CIHM 
Microfiche 


(IMonographs) 


(CIMH 

Collection  de 

microfiches 

(monographies) 


Canadian  Inatituta  for  Hiatorical  Microraproductiona  / 


Inatitut  Canadian  da  microraproductiona  hiatoriquoa 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  InstHule  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best  original 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this  copy  which 
may  be  bibliographically  unique,  which  may  alter  any  of 
the  Images  in  the  reproduction,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming  are 
checked  below. 


Coloured  covers  / 
Couveiture  de  couleur 


□ 

□ Covers  damaged  / 
Couveiture  endommagte 

□ Covers  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Couverture  restaur^e  et/ou  pelliculie 

Cover  title  missing  /  Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coiouitd  maps  /  Cartes  gtegraphlques  en  couleur 


□ 
□ 
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□ 
□ 

□ 


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Coloured  Ink  (I.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)  / 
Encra  da  couleur  (La.  autre  que  bleue  ou  note) 

Cok>ured  plates  and/or  illustrations  / 
Planches  et/ou  Illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material  / 
ReHi  avec  d'autrn  documertis 

Only  editton  available  / 
Seule  <dHk>n  disponibie 

light  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion  along 
interior  margin  /  La  reliure  senie  peut  causer  de 
I'ombre  ou  de  la  dislorslon  le  long  de  la  marge 
Intirleure. 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restorations  may  appear 
within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these  have  been 
omitted  from  filming  /  Use  peut  que  ceriaines  pages 
blanches  ajout^es  lors  d'une  restauration 
apparalssent  dana  la  texte.  mals.  lorsque  cela  Atalt 
poaaMa,  ces  pages  n'ont  pas  M  fibniea. 

Additional  eommants  / 
Commcntiires  su^mentalres: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire  qu'il  lul  a 
i\6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details  de  cet  exem> 
plaire  qui  sont  peul4tra  urAjues  du  p^  da  vua  bM> 
ographlque,  qui  peuvent  modifier  une  Image  reproduce, 
ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modlTicatton  dans  la  metho- 
ds normala  da  flbnaga  sorrt  indk^ute  d-dessoua. 

I    I  Cotoured  pages  /  Pages  de  couleur 

I    I  Pages  damaged /ftgasandommagias 

□ Pages  rastorad  and^  taminated  / 
P^jes  rastaurias  alADU  paHadles 

r-yT  Pages  discolMirad.  stained  or  foxed  / 
LLJ  Pageadicoioi<aa.tachatteaoupiqu«as 

I    j  Pages  detached/ Pages  ditach4es 

Showthrough /Transparence 

□ Quality  of  print  varies  / 
Quality  inigale  de  I'in^resston 

Includes  supplementary  material  / 
Comprend  du  matiriel  suppl6me  r  «i  r  ^ 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscureu  eria'a  slips, 
tissues,  etc.,  have  been  returned  tc  e:  r,ae  the  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  to>aiement  ou 
paitiellement  obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une 
pelure.  etc.,  ont  i\6  film^es  k  nouveau  de  fa^on  k 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 

opposing  pages  with  varying  colouration  or 
discolourations  are  fflmed  twice  to  ensure  the  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  s'opposant  ayant  des 
colorations  variables  ou  des  dicotorations  sont 
fikntes  deux  fois  afki  d'^enir  la  meiHeure  image 
possibla. 


□ 
□ 


□ 


Thli  Kim  l«  tttnwrf at  tha  raduciion  ratio  checked  bc!ow / 

C«  eMiHitanl  ••!  film4  »u  taux  da  iMuciian  tndiqui  cl>dtia»vt. 


10x 


14x 


18x 


22x 


26x 


30x 


7 


12x 


tlx 


20x 


24x 


2tx 


32x 


Th«  copy  filmed  h«r«  has  bMn  rsprodHcad  thanks 
to  tho  gonorotHy  of: 

Stauffer  Library 

Th«  imagM  appearing  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  considartng  tha  cundition  and  lagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  spacificationa. 


Original  copias  in  printod  papar  covars  ara  flimod 
beginning  with  tha  front  eovar  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  iiluatratad  impraa- 
sion.  or  tha  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  originel  copies  ara  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  pege  with  a  printed  or  iiluatratad  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  laat  psfo  with  a  printed 
or  iiluatratad  improaaion. 


The  last  rscorded  frame  on  eech  microfiche 
shsll  contain  tha  symbol        (meening  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  ▼  (meaning  "END"), 
whichowar  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  stc  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hend  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  Mtuatrata  the 
method: 


L'exemplaira  filmi  fut  reproduit  grica  A  la 
gin^osit*  da: 

Stauffer  Library 
giMSii's  UMwarsfty 

Las  imsgas  suivantes  ont  M  raproduitas  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin.  compta  tanu  de  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattet*  de  rexemplaira  filmi.  et  en 
conf ormM  avac  tea  conditions  du  contrat  da 
fHmago. 

Lee  exempleires  origineux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim4e  sont  filmis  sn  commandant 
par  la  premier  plat  at  en  terminent  soit  par  la 
dsrniAre  pegs  qui  comports  une  amprainte 
d'Imprassion  ou  d'illustration.  soit  par  la  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  lea  autraa  aaamplaires 
origineux  sont  filmas  en  commen^ant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporta  una  ampreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  at  sn  tarminant  par 
la  darniAre  page  qui  eomporte  une  telle 
awpfainia. 

Un  das  symboiss  suivants  spparaitra  sur  la 
damiira  image  da  cheque  microfiche,  salon  Is 
cas:  la  symbols  — »•  signifie  "A  SUIVRE".  le 
symbola  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartea,  planches,  tableaux,  etc..  peuvent  *tra 
filmis  A  das  taux  de  reduction  diffirents. 
Lorsqus  Is  document  est  trop  grsnd  pour  itrs 
reproduit  en  un  soul  clich*,  il  est  filmi  S  psrtir 
da  Tangle  sup*rieur  gauche,  da  gauche  i  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  bas.  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'imegea  nacassaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
iHustrant  la  mdthoda. 


MICROCOPY  RBOUITION  TfST  CHART 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  7) 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


< 


By  Robert  E.  Speer 


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The  Deity  of  Christ 

-^>,bowd*,Brt«c 
III. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND 
THE  NATIONS 


By 

ROBERT  E.  SPEER 

Stcntary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  he  Pretbrtemn 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  Aa  lic* 


Fleming  H.  Rcvell  Company 

LOMBOM        AMB  EOIMIVKOB 


Copyright.  1910^  by 
FLEMING  a  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Aftium 
Chicago:  80  Wabash  Avenue 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  St.,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:  100  Princes  Street 


PREFACE 


THE  six  chapters  in  this  vohttne  coatpme  the  Doff 
Missionary  Lectures  delivered  in  Scotland  on  the  foon- 
dation  established  by  William  Pirie  Duff,  Esq.,  in  mem- 
oiy  of  his  father.  Atexander  Duff.    It  was  an  honour  to  be 
charged  with  any  work  associated  with  that  great  name.  Mem- 
ories still  exist  in  America  of  a  visit  from  the  famous  missionary 
ir:  1854,  when  under  his  leadership  a  missionary  conference 
was  held  in  New  York  City  from  which  deep  and  abiding 
mfluences  remam  with  us  to  this  day.    The  printed  reports 
of  the  conference  leave  Dr.  Duff's  public  address  uncom- 
pleted. The  reporter  was  »  carried  away  that  no  record  was 
made  of  the  rushing  torrent  of  ehiquenGe  with  which  it  dosed. 
But  above  a  sense  of  wonder  at  his  gift  of  convincing  and  per- 
suasive speech,  Alexander  Duff  left  upon  those  who  heard  him 
m  America,  as  he  left  ttpon  the  world,  the  impress  of  his 
supreme  devotion  to  a  supreme  cause.   I  shall  be  gntefnl  if 
through  these  lectures  any  one  may  be  led  to  recognise  as  supreme 
the  cause  which  Duff  served,  and  to  give  his  life  to  it  with  some 
small  measure  of  Duff's  devotion. 

With  the  venture  of  such  a  prayer  I  asked  the  hearers  of 
these  lectures  and  now  ask  the  reader  to  consider  some  of  the 
problems  of  modem  missions  under  the  general  theme  of  Chris- 
tianity and  the  Nations,  looking  first  at  the  nassiQaary  duty  and 
motives,  secondly  at  the  missionary  aim  and  methods,  thirdly  at 
the  three  great  sets  of  problems  involved  in  the  relations  of  mis- 
sions (i)  to  the  new  natk»al  Churches  which  they  found,  (a) 
to  politics,  and  (3)  to  the  non-Christian  religions,  and  Ustly  at 
therelation  of  the  missionary  movement  to  the  att-:inmeitt  of  oar 
hopes  of  a  united  Church  and  a  united  humanity. 

The  lectures  were  written  on  steamshipi  while  sUrtiiw  the 
coasu  of  South  America  00  a  visit  to  the  mtsiioo  work  in  the 

5 


6 


PREFACE 


South  American  lands  and  there  was  access  only  to  notes  on 
missionary  books  but  not  to  any  fibnries,  and  nmch  appeal  to 
missionary  biography  which  would  have  been  desirable  was  im- 
possible. I  think,  however,  that  no  opinions  have  been  set  forth 
for  which  there  is  not  ample  support  in  the  judgment  and  expe- 
rience of  some  of  the  great  missionaries  of  whom  the  world 
knows  and  of  many  of  the  nttssioauries»  equally  great,  of  whom 
the  world  does  not  know. 

The  lectures  were  ddivered  in  January  and  Fefcruary,  191^ 
in  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  and  Aberdeen,  and  I  am  glad  to  take 
advantage  of  the  opportunity  presented  by  this  preface  to  thank 
the  many  friends  whose  kindness  made  the  dutieA  of  the  lecture- 
ship an  ever  memorable  delight  The  Hmited  time  available  for 
the  delivery  of  each  lecture  required  the  cutting  out  of  a  good 
part  of  the  material,  but  all  that  was  omitted  is  restored  in  the 
printed  form. 

No  claim  of  finality  or  completeness  is  made  for  the  judg- 
ments on  mission  policies  and  methods  which  arc  advanced.  The 
work  of  missions  is  a  living  work,  full  of  all  the  perplexities  and 
problems  of  human  life  wrought  upon  by  the  Divine  Ufe,  and 
we  are  all  only  feeling  our  way  toward  the  great  principles  which 
are  involved  in  it  and  toward  the  formulation  of  these  princi- 
ples in  some  systematic  statement.  If  the  discusston  allanpted 
here  leads,  other  through  agreement  or  tium^h  dissent,  to  a 
fuller  and  juster  view  than  has  been  here  proposed,  the  end  of 
the  book  will  have  been  attained.  It  is  the  truth  that  is  sought 
and  not  the  maintenance  of  any  particular  thewy  or  opinion. 

R.E.& 


CONTENTS 


I 

The  M1SSX0..-AKY  Duty  and  Motives     .       .       .  .17 

The  last  command  of  Qirist  not  the  deep  and  final  ground  of 
missionary  duty,  but 

(i)  The  character  of  God;  (2)  The  personality  of 
Christ;  (3;  The  purpose  of  the  Qiristian  Church; 
(4)  The  need  of  humanity.   And  only  Christianity 
can  meet  these  needs.  It  does  so  by  str'!dng  down  to 
the  individual  and  saving  him. 
But  we  are  told  that  these  motives  are  dead  and  inoperative, 
that  they  cannot  live — (a)  With  the  new  theology,  (6) 
With  "  the  force  of  evolution." 
But  the  missionary  motive  does  not  change : 

It  has  always  been  moral  and  not  merely  'latdogicaL 

The  fundamental  motive, — but  there  ar*?  others, . 

(i)  The  outward  movement  of  dvilisatioa  requires 
the  missionary  enterjiri^e — To  at:\aace  it,  to  suppo  t 
it,  to  correct  it;  (2)  llic  Giurch  also  requires  it;  (3) 
The  special  urgencies  of  our  own  day.  The  conditim 
of  transition  in  Asia ;  the  need  and  collapse  of  Roman- 
ism in  South  America. 

It  is  objected 

(i)  That  we  ought  not  to  interfere  with  the  religious 

ideas  and  institutimts  of  tiie  non-Christian  people ;  (2) 

That  so  mticfa  is  to  be  done  at  home  Aat  it  is  wrong 

7 


8  CONTENTS 

VACl 

to  divert  Christian  energies  into  the  work  of  distant 
missions;  (3)  That  the  whole  outward  moyement  is 

wrong  and  futile. 
No.    The  outwarJ  movement  is  the  genius  of  the  faith. 
Check  it  and  the  faith  decays,  because  the  faith  is  a  re- 
ligion— a  life  to  be  lived,  a  love  to  be  obeyed. 

II 

The  Missionary  Aim  AND  Methods      ....  57 

The  missionary  enterprise  not  charged  with  the  whole  duty 
of  Christendom  to  the  non-Christian  peoples. 

Its  aim  not  to  be  confused  with  its  results  or  its  meUiods. 
Its  aim  includes  three  things: 

The  proclamation  of  Christ 

The  salvation  of  men. 

The  naturalisation  of  Christianity  in  the  non-Christian 

nations. 

The  task  one  of  great  difficulty. 

The  aim  is  not  the  civilisation  or  the  conversion  of  tiie  worid. 
I J  it  "  the  evangelisati<m  of  the  world  in  this  generation?" 
Its  aim 'and  the  flexilnlity  of  its  methods  seen  in  St  Paul. 
CXir  methods : 

I.  The  method  of  incarnation,  but  not  of  ascetidm. 

a.  Preaching  Christ. 

3.  Education.  Is  it  legitimate? 

4.  Philanthrc^. 
The  iMroblems  which  arise. 
Our  attitude  toward  these. 

Two  different  pmnts  of  view,  and  four  Gonmenti  upon  oat 
of  them. 


CONTENTS 
III 


9 

TAGt 


Missions  and  the  Native  Churches     .       .       .       •  "3 

The  growth  of  nationalism  in  Asia. 

This  spirit  inevitable  and  desirable  in  politics. 

The  proUem  of  natkmalism  a  welconw  mission  proUetn. 

It  is  in  line  witit  our  ideal,  but  not  with  the  Roman  ideal 

It  is  a  problem. 

I.  In  right  ideals  for  the  native  Churches  and  r^t 
education  of  them  from  the  outset 

(a)  Self-propagation. 

(b)  Self-support. 

(c)  Self-government. 

a.  In   right  relations  of   missionaries   to  native 
Churches. 

3.  In  the  setting  of  right  moral  standards.  Polygan^. 
Caste. 

4.  In  the  true  impartation  of  a  free  life. 

The  need  of  seeing  clearly  the  principle  on  which  we  work, 
the  need  to  be  supplied,  and  the  difficulty  to  be  met 

IV 

Missions  and  Politics  177 

The  origin  of  the  political  problem  in  Missions. 
The  political  aspects  of  the  movement  inevitable,  and  com- 
plicating. 

They  eome  from  without,  but  also  from  within. 
Christianity  is  a  force  whkh  affects  all  life. 
And  its  agents  have  been  umhte  to  refrain  from  rmdMiat 
political  service. 


lo  CONTENTS 

Is  this  pdidcal  entanglement  consistent  with  the  aim  of 
Missions  ? 

What  are  the  political  rights  and  duties  of  missionaries? 

Have  missionaries  any  political  rights? 

Ought  they  to  have  any  ? 

What  ought  they  to  do  with  their  rights? 
St  Paul's  course  of  action. 
Three  practical  questions: 

1.  The  question  of  the  exercise  by  missionaries  of  the 
right  of  extra-territoriality. 

2.  The  question  of  the  protection  of  native  converts. 

3.  The  vital  question  of  the  effect  upon  the  purity  and 
vitality  of  the  mission  movement  of  its  confusion 
with  politics.  The  confusion  is  inevitable  and  is 
likely  to  increase.  It  is  dangerous.  It  is  die  con- 
fusion  of  an  era  of  construction  in  which  God  is 
working  in  many  ways. 

V 

Christianity  and  the  Non-Christian  Reugions  . 

Christianity's  claims  only  tenable  if  rational. 

Comparison  with  other  religions  unavoidable. 

And  a  fundamental  element  in  missions. 

Essential  conditions  of  a  just  comparison. 

DiverM  views  of  die  non<^ristian  religitms  and  their  rela- 
ti(Mi  to  Christianity. 

Results  of  our  comparisMi : 

(i)  Men  are  made  for  religion;  (2)  Christianity  has 
all  the  good  of  other  religions ;  (3)  Christianity  is  free 
from  the  evils  of  other  religions;  (4)  Christianity 


CONTENTS 


contains  indispensable  elements  of  good,  which  all 
other  religions  lack,  (a)  The  conception  of  the  Fa- 
therhood of  God,  (b)  The  discovery  of  the  evil  of  sin 
and  provision  for  its  forgivaiess  and  defeat,  (c)  The 
ideal  of  sacrificial  service,  (<f )  The  idea  and  princi(de 
of  resurrecticm;  (5)  tiie  non-Christian  rdigims  are 
inadequate  to  meet  the  worid's  needs;  (6)  Chris* 
tianity  is  adequate  because  of  its  superior  conception 
of  God,  its  moral  efficiency  and  its  universality. 

Have,  then,  the  non-Christian  religions  prqwred  the  way  fmr 
Christianity? 

What  do  we  conclude  slKMild  be  the  attitu  je  of  Christianity 
toward  the  non-Christian  religions? 

(i)  It  should  be  consistent;  (2)  It  should  recognise 
joyfully  all  the  good  in  them  and  build  upon  it;  (3) 
It  should  not  slur  over  or  ignore  the  points  of  differ- 
ence ;  (4)  It  dioold  make  no  compromises,  but  should 
anticipate  its  own  absdlute  triumfrii;  (5)  It  dwuld 
welcome  all  transformations  of  the  Uwt^ht  of  non- 
Christian  peoples  which  bring  it  nearer  to  Christi- 
anity; (6)  But  it  must  continue  to  seek  to  win  men 
away  from  these  religions  to  Christianity;  (7)  It 
should  perceive  and  hold  fast  the  truth  of  its  own 
tmiqueness;  (8)  It  should  wdcoroe  any  aMtrSiution 
to  a  ittlter  un^rstan^ng  of  its  own  character,  but  it 
may  exaggerate  the  prospect  of  such  contributions. 

This  view  of  tim  no»Oristiatt  rdigkms  and  of  our  attitude 
to  them  is  not  the  Gospel  which  we  are  to  preach.  It  is 
the  ground  of  our  Mission  not  the  substance  of  our 
message. 


CONTENTS 


The  Relation  of  BIissions  to  the  Unity  of  the  Chuich 
AND  THE  Unity  OF  THE  WoKLO  ......  327 

OmsideraticHis  which  indicate  that  Christian  unity  on  tihe 
foreign  mission  field  is  desirable  and  necessary : 

1.  The  magnitude,  difficulties,  and  urgency  of  the  task 
demand  economy  and  efficiency. 

2.  The  elementary  needs  of  the  peoples  to  be  reached 
call  primarily  for  what  is  essential  alone. 

3.  The  definiteness  of  the  missionary  aim  provides  for 
unity. 

4.  There  is  already  sufficient  intellectual  agreement  in 
the  Evangelical  Churches  of  the  West. 

5.  The  Occidental  character  of  our  divisions  makes 
their  export  unnecessary  and  inexpedient. 

The  kind  of  uni'j  for  which  tliese  considerations  call  in- 
volves: 

(1)  The  avoidance  of  all  waste  ami  frictwn;  (a)  A 

positive  co-operation;  (3)  A  real- and  spiritual  unity. 
The  measure  in  which  such  unity  has  been  attained  on  the 
foreign  field — (i)  The  disuse  of  denominational  names; 

(2)  Territorial  divisions  of  the  field;  (3)  Mutual  rec- 
ognition of  ordinances  and  discipline;  (4)  Union  in 
prayer;  (5)  The  establishment  of  committees  of  con- 
ference and  arUtration;  (6)  Church  fcderatkxt;  (7) 
Corporate  wieness. 

The  influence  of  missk»ary  unity  upon  tiie  unity  of  the 
Church  at  home: 

( I )  it  is  showing  the  home  Churches  the  possibility  of 
unity;  (2)  It  is  teaching  them  the  duty  of  unity;  (3) 


CONTENTS 


It  is  revealing  to  them  the  method  of  unity,  (a)  It  has 
shown  us  the  uniting  power  of  a  great  work,  (6)  And 
the  power  of  fellowship  in  difference  to  dissolve  tlie 
difference,  (r)  And  that  the  supreme  method  of  union 
is  not  adaptattm  tM4t  transcendence,  (d)  The  principle 
of  naticMialism:  its  relation  to  tlw  problem  of  the  Ro- 
man Church,  and  the  relation  of  missicms  through  this 
principle  to  world-unity. 
The  dangers  of  political  nationalism — The  misconsti  action 
of  the  nationalistic  principle;  Insolence  of  racial  prej- 
udice. 

The  woric  of  missims  in  meeting  these  dangers  and  supply- 
ing the  elements  essential  to  the  unification  of  mankind; 
(i)  The  missionary' construction  of  Christianity  alone 
proclaims  a  hope  and  use  for  ever/  race;  (2)  I'he 
missionary  agency  is  an  effective  and  essential  con- 
ciliating influence;  (3)  It  introduces  nev/  principles 
into  the  non-Christian  nations,  without  which  they 
cannot  fulfil  their  mission  or  be  fitted  lor  humu 
unity ;  (4)  It  presents  tiie  cmly  metlu3d  of  efi^ecting  the 
unity  of  mankind ;  (5)  It  provides  the  adequate  moral 
basis;  (6)  It  embodies  the  snpren^  uniting  power. 


I 

THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES 


I 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES 


HE.  last  command  of  Christ  is  not  die  deq>  and  final  ground 


of  the  Church's  missionary  duty.     That  duty  is  authorita- 


tively  stated  in  the  words  of  the  great  commission,  and  it  is 
of  infinite  consequence  to  have  had  it  so  stated  by  our  Lord  Him- 
self. But  if  these  particular  words  had  never  been  spoken  by  Him, 
or  if,  having  been  spoken,  they  had  not  been  preserved,  the  mission- 
ary duty  of  the  Church  would  not  be  in  the  least  affected.  "  The 
suprenw  argument  for  foreign  nussions,"  says  an  earnest  mis- 
sionary advocate.  "  is  the  word  of  Jesus  Christ  Himself."  This  is 
correct  but  for  three  words.  The  supreme  argument  for  foreign 
missions  is  ncM  any  word  of  Christ's,— it  is  Christ  Himself,  and 
what  He  reveals  and  signifies.  The  words  of  Christ  dkl  not 
create  new  duties.  They  revealed  eternal  duties,  the  grounds 
of  which  lay  back  of  all  words  in  the  nature  of  things  and  in 
the  facts  of  life. 

It  seems  clear  that  the  last  command  of  Christ  played  no  part 
at  all  in  the  first  foreign  missions  of  the  Church.  There  is  no 
reference  to  it  in  Paul's  Epistles.  No  appeal  was  made  to  it 
in  the  issue  over  the  admission  of  Gentiles  to  the  Church.  Medi- 
aeval missions  did  not  find  their  ground  in  it.  It  is  without 
authority  for  many  men  to-day,  because,  while  they  accept  the 
words  as  Christ's  words,  they  do  not  feel  the  dominatioa  of  Christ 
or  of  the  real  grounds  of  missionary  duty.  Those  grounds  are 
in  the  very  being  and  thought  of  God,  in  the  character  of  Chris- 
tianity, in  the  aim  and  purpose  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  in 
the  nature  of  humanity,  ite  tmity,  and  ite  need. 

The  word  of  Christ  as  an  argument  for  foreign  missions  has 
just  as  much  vitaUty  as  it  draws  from  the  depth  of  our  discern- 


iS         CHRISnANITV  AND  THE  NATIONS 

P^''"'  mptnct  of  the  considerations 

which  are  the  true  grounds  of  missionary  duty.  "  If  any  of  you 
enter  the  Gospel  ministry  in  this  or  other  lands."  said  Ador  am 
Jttdson  in  an  appeal  to  young  men  at  home.  "  let  not  your  object 
be  so  much  to  do  your  duty/  or  even  to  '  save  though 

JWM.  1^  this  be  your  ruling  motive  in  all  that  you  do 
Some  one  asked  me  not  long  ago  whether  faith  or  love  influenced 

But  in  tfnnkmg  of  what  did  influence  me.  I  remembered  a  time, 
out  m  the  woods  back  of  Andover  Seminary,  when  I  was  ahS 
f^T'^  Everything  looked  dark.  No  one  had  gonV^ 
from  ttas  country.  The  way  was  not  open.  The  field  was  far 
dUst^t  and  «  an  unhealthy  climate.  I  knew  not  what  to 
All  a  once  that  last  command  seemed  to  come  to  my  heart 
T"-.  ^         ^^^''^  "°  detennined 

^Lt^J  ^"^  P"*^  Chri»»  ^  ^ 

disciple  s  conformity  to  an  enactment,  a  statute  of  evangeUsation 

K?*!  realisation  of  the  grounds  of  missionary  duty,  which 
enabled  Judson  to  see  what  the  Uut  command  meant  and  toty 
his  life  m  line  v..th  the  purpose  of  God  in  the  Incarnation. 

It  IS  in  li.    very  being  and  character  of  God  that  the 
deepen  ground  of  the  missionary  enterprise  is  to  be  found 
We  cannot  think  of  God  except  in  terms  which  necessitate  the 

SlffZ^T  -K  ?-  There  «««t.  therefore,  be  ««h 

different  tnbal  or  racial  gods  as  are  avowed  in  the  ethnic  re- 

w  T  «thnic  politics  of  the 

West.  Whatever  God  exists  for  Scotland  exists  tor  aU  the  world 
i«>d  none  other  exists.  And  that  cannot  be  true  of  God  in 
ocotland  which  is  not  true  of  Him  also  in  India.  Men  are  not 
free  to  hold  contradictory  conceptions  of  the  same  God.  If 
there  be  any  God  at  all  for  me.  He  m  .st  be  every  other  nnn's 
t^J^;.        ^  "  «  "«rely 

Hmi,  and  to  describe  Him  as  akne  He  cm  be.   And  if  He 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES 


is  true  He  cannot  have  taught  men  falsehood.  He  will  have 
struggled  with  their  ignorance  in  His  education  of  mankind,  bat 
ir  cannot  have  been  H»  wiU  or  be  His  will  oow  ttat  mow  moi 
should  have  false  ideas  of  Him  or  false  attitudes  toward  Him. 
A  true  God  must  will  to  be  truly  known  by  all  men.  And  God 
is  hdy  and  pure.  Notfiing  unholy  or  impure  can  be  of  Htm. 
Anything  unholy  or  impure  must  be  abhorrent  to  Hna,  if  in 
religion  the  more  abhorrent  because  the  more  misrepresentative 
of  Him,  the  more  revolting  to  His  nature.  If  anywhere  in  the 
world  rdigion  covers  what  is  andean  or  wtmorlbf,  diere  die 
character  of  God  is  being  assailed.  And  God  is  just  and  good. 
No  race  and  no  man  can  have  slipped  through  tiie  fatherly  affec- 
tion of  •  kmng  God.  Any  inequality  or  unhdmess  or  indi£Ei9> 
ence  in  an  offered  God  would  send  us  seeking  for  the  real  one 
whom  we  should  know  was  not  yet  found.  A  God  who  was 
idols  in  China,  fate  in  Arabia,  fetiches  in  Africa,  and  man  him- 
self witii  all  his  sin  in  India,  wcmld  be  no  God  anywhere.  If 
God  is  one  man's  father,  He  is  or  would  be  every  man's  father. 
We  cannot  think  of  God,  I  say  it  reverently,  without  thinking 
of  Him  as  a  missionary  God.  Unless  we  are  prepared  to  accept 
a  God  whose  character  carries  witti  it  the  missionary  obUfiUiM 
and  idea,  we  must  do  without  any  real  God  at  all. 

It  is  by  Christ,  however,  that  the  character  of  God  is  revealed 
to  us.  One  of  His  most  boM  and  penctratky  wwds  was  His 
declaration,  "  The  day  will  come  when  they  shall  slay  you,  think- 
ing that  they  do  service  unto  God,  and  these  things  will  they  do 
unto  you  because  they  have  not  known  the  Faffwr  or  me."  The 
best  people  of  His  day,  He  declared,  were  ignorant  of  the  true 
character  of  God.  Only  those  truly  knew  it  who  discovered  or 
recognised  it  in  Him.  "  He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the 
Fatfwr.  No  man  oomctt  vOto  Ac  Fatiier  bat  by  Me.  No  mtn 
knoweth  the  Son  save  the  Father,  and  no  man  knoweth  the 
Father  save  the  Son  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  willeth  to 
reveal  Him."  These  are  not  artntrary  statutes.  They  are  simple 
statements  of  fact.  The  world's  knotvledge  of  the  diaracter  of 
God  has  depended  and  depends  now  on  its  knowledge  of  God 
in  Christ  A  good  and  worthy,  an  adequate  and  satisfying  God, 


»         CHRISTIANiry  AND  THE  NATIONS 

U.,  God  in  truth,  is  known  only  where  men  have  been  in  contact 
widi  Hbe  message  of  historic  Christiantty. 

This  simple  fact  involves  a  sufficient  missionary  responpibility. 
Men  will  only  know  a  good  and  loving  Father  as  their  God, 
I.*.,  they  wid  know  God,  only  as  they  are  brought  into  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christ,  Who  is  the  only  revelatioa  of  God.   For  ^lose 
who  have  this  knowledge  to  withhold  it  from  the  whole  world 
is  to  do  two  things.  It  is  to  condemn  the  world  to  irodlessness, 
and  it  is  to  raise  the  susfMcion  that  those  ^o  thhuc  they  have 
the  knowledge  of  God  are  in  reality  ignorant  of  what  Christ 
was  and  what  He  came  to  do.    "  It  is  the  sincere  and  deep 
coimctioa  of  my  soul,"  said  Phillips  Brooks,  "  when  I  declare 
Aat  if  the  Christian  faith  does  not  colminate  and  complete  itsdf 
in  tfie  effort  to  make  Christ  known  to  all  the  world,  that  faith 
qtpears  to  me  a  thoroughly  unreal  and  insignificant  thing,  desti- 
tute of  power  for  the  single  Ufe  and  incapable  of  being  con- 
vincingly proved  to  be  true."  And  I  recaU  a  remark  of  Principal 
Rainy's  to  the  effect  that  the  measure  of  our  sense  of  missiona-y 
duty  was  simply  the  measure  of  our  personal  valuation  of 
Christ   If  fie  is  God  to  i'.s,  all  m  all  to  our  mtrtds  and  souls, 
we  shal  realise  that  He  alone  can  Le  this  to  every  man,  and 
that  He  must  be  offered  thus  to  ?very  other  man.  The  Unitarian 
view  has  never  produced  a  misston  save  under  an  mherited  mo- 
mentum or  the  communicated  stimulus  of  evangelicalism,  and 
it  has  been  incapable  of  sustaining  such  missions  as  it  has  pro- 
duced.   But  when  men  really  believe  in  God  in  Christ,  and 
know  Christ  as  God,  they  must,  if  they  are  toyal  to  themselves 
or  to  Him,  share  Him  with  all  mankind. 

For,  child  of  one  race  and  one  time  though  He  was,  and 
timt  rMe  tiie  most  centripetal  of  all  races,  Christ  thougnt  and 
wrought  in  universals.  He  looked  forward  over  all  ages  and 
outward  over  all  nations.  The  bread  which  He  would  give  was 
His  flesh,  which  He  would  give  for  the  life  of  the  world.  Me 
was  the  light  of  the  whole  world.  If  He  should  be  lifted  up 
He  would  draw  all  men  unto  Himself.  His  disciples  were  to 
go  into  all  the  worid  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations.  His 
dMq>  were  irat  of  a  Jewish  icid  akme.   It  was  not  of  a  race 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  m 


but  of  a  world  that  the  Father  had  sent  Him  to  be  the  Saviour. 
He  did  not  regard  Himself  as  one  of  many  Saviours  and  His 
revdation  as  one  of  mvqr  revealings.  He  was  tfw  only  Saviour 
of  men,  and  His  was  the  only  revelation  of  the  Father  God. 
"  I  have  long  ago  ceased  to  regard  the  history  of  the  Hebrew 
race  as  unique,"  writes  a  well-known  Christian  leader  of  our 
day.  "  It  was  wdl  for  us  in  our  tufy  days  diat  our  stnAcs 
were  directed  towards  it,  and  we  saw  how  the  Hebrew  people 
found  God  in  every  event  in  their  history,  but  we  believe  that 
Assyria  and  Babylon,  Ninevdi  and  Rome,  could  have  similar 
stories  written  of  God's  dealings  with  them."  Now,  wbetfaer 
the  history  of  the  Hebrew  race  is  unique  or  not  is  not  a  matter 
of  theory.  It  is  a  simple  question  of  fact  If  it  was  not  unique, 
then  where  is  its  like?  What  odier  histany  produced  a  voGaba- 
lary  for  a  revelation?  What  other  history  yielded  God  to  hu- 
manity? What  other  ended  in  a  Saviour?  As  a  simple  matter 
of  hurt,  Christiarity  which  sprang  out  of  this  race  and  this 
history  is  unlike  all  other  religions  in  its  kind,  as  we  shall  see. 
As  such,  it  never  contemplated  anything  else  than  universal 
dominion.  If  it  shrinks  into  a  more  racial  cult,  it  separates  itself 
from  its  Foundor  and  Mtt  and  uttei^  abandons  its  eucntial 
character. 

Not  only  is  the  missionary  duty  inhere^,,  in  the  nature  of 
Christianity  and  in  tiie  Christian  conception  of  God,  i.e.,  in  the 
real  character  of  God,  but  it  is  imbedded  in  the  very  purpose  <rf 
the  Christian  Church.  There  were  no  missionary  organisations 
in  the  early  Church.  No  effort  was  made  to  promote  a  mission- 
ary propaipuida.  't  ^  rdigion  spread  at  once  and  e^eiy  wUeie. 
The  genius  of  u  jrsal  extension  was  in  the  Church.  "  We  may 
take  it  as  an  asb  .red  fact,"  says  Hamack,  "  that  the  mere  exist- 
ence and  persistent  activity  of  the  individual  Christian  com- 
munities did  more  than  anything  dse  to  bring  about  the  exten- 
sion of  the  Christian  religion." 

Bishop  Mon^mery  in  his  little  book  on  "  Foreign  Missions  " 
recalls  ArchbisiK^  Benson's  definition  of  four  eras  of  nussiQaik 
"first,  when  the  whole  Church  acted  as  one;  next,  when  nu*» 
sions  were  due  to  great  saints;  tiiirdly,  to  tiic  action  of  gamnh 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


ments;  lastly,  the  age  of  missionary  societies."  The  Church 
at  the  outset  was  a  missionary  society.  The  new  Christians 
were  drawn  togetiier  spontaneously  by  the  uniting  power  of  a 
common  life,  and  they  felt  as  spontaneously  the  outward  pressurv 
of  a  world  mission.  The  triumphant  prosecution  of  that  mission 
and  the  moral  fruits  of  this  new  and  uniting  life  were  their 
apologetics.  They  did  not  sit  down  within  the  walls  of  a  formal- 
ised and  stiffened  institution  to  compose  reasoned  arguments 
for  Christianity.  The  new  religion  would  have  rotted  out  from 
heresy  and  anemia  in  two  generations  if  they  had  done  so. 

As  an  old  writer  of  the  Church  of  England  has  put  It:  "  The 
way  in  which  the  Gospel  would  seem  to  be  iutended  to  be  alike 
preserved  and  perpetuated  on  earth  is  not  by  its  being  jealously 
guarded  by  a  chosen  Order  and  cautiously  communicated  to  a 
precious  Few,  but  by  being  so  widely  scattered  and  to  thicidy 
sown  that  it  shall  be  impossible,  from  the  very  extent  of  its 
spreading,  merely,  to  be  rooted  up.  It  was  designed  to  be  not 
as  a  Perpetual  Fire  in  the  Temple,  to  be  tended  with  jeakms 
assiduity  and  to  be  fed  only  with  spec??!  oil,  but  rather  as  a 
shining  and  burning  Light,  to  be  set  up  on  avery  hill,  which 
should  blaze  the  broader  and  the  brighter  in  the  breeze,  and 
go  on  so  spreading  over  the  surrounding  territory  as  tiiat  noA- 
ing  of  this  worid  should  ever  be  able  to  extinguish  or  to  conceal 
it"    The  sound  doctrine  of  the  Church  was  safeguarded  by 
tfie  wholesome  hygienic  reHex  action  of  service  and  woric  and 
conquest.    And  its  light  and  life  convinced  men,  because  men 
saw  them  conquering  the  worid.   The  Church  was  established 
to  spread  Christianity,  and  to  conserve  it  in  the  only  way  in 
which  living  things  can  ever  be  conserved,  by  living  actioii. 
When  in  any  age  or  in  any  land  the  Church  has  forgotten  this, 
she  has  paid  for  her  disobedience.   So  long  as  there  are  any 
unreached  men  in  the  world  or  any  unreached  life,  the  business 
of  the  Church  is  her  missionary  duty. 

And  while  so  long  as  our  present  unhappy  divisions  continue 
txaoag  us  there  may  be  diversities  of  tasks  among  various  bodies 
of  Christians,  nevertheless  that  is  true  of  eadi  body  which 
is  true  ol  ftll.  lu  main  buiiiMM  eta  atm  be  to  guard.  It 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  as 


must  be  to  give.  Each  Church  must  recognise  the  missionary 
duty  as  its  duty  as  a  Church,  and  its  primary  duty,  if  it  would 
be  true  to  the  fundamental  purpose  of  the  Church  in  the  world. 
The  Church  of  Scotland  was  the  first  great  Church  in  modem 
times  to  rediscover  this  principle.  In  1796  two  Synods  of  the 
Established  Church  overtured  the  Assembly  regarding  foreign 
missions,  proposing  a  collection.  The  proposition  was  violendy 
opposed.  Lven  moderatism  can  be  violent.  It  was  argued  that 
"  to  spread  abroad  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  amongst  bar- 
barous and  heathen  nations  seems  to  be  highly  preposterous,  in 
so  for  as  fUmkaofAxy  and  learning  must  in  the  nature  of  things 
take  the  precedence,  and  that  while  there  remains  at  home  a 
single  individual  without  means  of  religious  knowledge,  to  propa- 
gate it  abroad  would  be  improper  and  absurd."  A  collection 
for  missions,  it  was  contended,  "  would  no  doubt  be  a  subject 
for  legal  prosecution."  Thanks  to  Chalmers  and  Inglis,  the 
day  came  when  the  Church  of  Scotland  came  to  the  truth  and 
became  "the  first  Protestant  Churdi  as  such  to  send  out  a 
missionary."  In  1831,  Dr.  Rice  presented  in  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America  his  famous  overture  whose  principle,  six  years  later, 
was  permanently  embotfied  in  the  constitutioQ  of  tho  Church. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  North 
America  [declared  Dr.  Rice  in  his  overture]  in  o'.7>anising 
their  form  of  government,  and  in  repeated  declaration^  s  made 
through  their  representatives  in  after  times,  have  solemnly  recog- 
nised the  importance  of  the  missionary  cause  and  their  obligation 
as  Christians  to  promote  it  by  all  the  means  in  their  power. 
But  these  various  acknowledgments  have  not  gone  to  the  full 
extent  of  the  obligations  imposed  by  t..e  Head  of  the  Church, 
nor  have  they  pr(Kluced  exertions  at  all  corresponding  thereto. 
Indeed,  in  the  judgment  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  primary 
and  principal  object  of  the  institution  of  the  Church  by  Jesus 
Christ,  was  not  so  much  the  salvation  of  the  individual  Christian, 
for  "  he  that  believeth  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  saved," — 
but  the  communicating  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel  to  the  destitute 
with  the  eifidency  ot  united  efforts.  The  entire  history  of  the 
Chrittiaa  Societiet  organised  by  the  Apostles  affords  abundant 
evidoM  that  tfwy  lo  uodtntood       deiigB  of  ^  Matlir. 


34         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


They  received  of  Him  a  command  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature,  and  from  the  churches  planted  by  them  the  word  of 
the  Lord  was  "  sounded  out "  through  all  parts  of  tfje  civilised 
world.  Nor  did  the  missionary  spint  of  the  primitive  churches 
expire  until  they  had  become  secularised  and  corrupted  by 
another  spirit.  And  it  is  the  decided  belief  of  the  General  As- 
sembly that  a  true  revival  of  religion  in  any  denomination  of 
Christians  will  generally,  if  not  universally,  be  marked  by  an 
increased  sense  of  obligation  to  execute  the  commission  which 
prist  gave  the  Apostles.  The  General  Assembly  would,  there- 
fore, in  the  most  public  and  solemn  manner,  express  their  shame 
and  sorrow  that  the  Church  represented  by  them  has  done  com- 
paratively so  little  to  make  known  the  saving  health  of  the  Gospel 
to  aU  nations.  ...  Be  it  therefore,  Resolved,  that  the  Presby- 
terian Church  m  the  United  States  is  a  Missionary  Society, 
the  object  of  which  is  to  aid  in  the  conversion  of  the  world; 
and  that  every  member  is  a  member  for  life  cf  said  sodeW, 
and  bound  in  maintenance  of  his  Christian  character  to  do  all 
m  his  power  for  the  accon^lishment  of  this  object 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  nine-tenths  of  tiie  kiyalty  to  the  mis- 
sionary purpose  of  the  Church  is  shown  by  one-tenth  of  the 
membership,  but  the  Church  none  the  less  is  a  missionary  or- 
ganisation, and  the  missionary  organisation  and  the  missionary 
duty  are  grounded  in  her  charter  and  character. 

The  fourth  deep  ground  of  missionary  duty  is  the  need  of 
humanity.  The  worid  needs  Christ  to-day  as  much  and  as  truly 
as  it  needed  Him  nineteen  centuries  ago.  If  Judaism  and  the 
Roman  Empire  needed  what  Christ  brought,  then  Hinduism 
and  Asia  need  it  now.  If  they  do  not  need  Him  now,  no  more 
was  He  needed  then.  If  they  can  get  along  without  Him  just 
as  well,  the  whole  worid  can  dispense  with  Him.  If  there  it 
no  missionary  duty,  the  grcund  falls  from  under  the  necessity, 
And  therefore  from  under  ihe  rea'ity  of  the  Incarnation.  But 
that  worid  into  which  He  came  did  need  Christ.  It  was  dead 
without  Him.  It  was  He  Who  ga-  it  life.  Who  cleansed  its 
defilement,  Who  taught  it  purity  and  service  and  equality  and 
faith  and  gave  it  hope  and  fellowship.  He  alone  can  do  this 
now.  The  non-Qirlstian  world  needs  now  what  Christ  Uki 
Christ  alone  can  do  for  it 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  as 


It  needs  flie  physical  wholeness,  the  fitting  of  life  to  its 
conditions,  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  nations  get  just  in  pro- 
portion as  they  get  Christ.   We  do  not  need  to  go  for  proof 
of  such  needs  to  any  overcoloured,  distorted  accounts  of  those 
who  see  only  the  good  of  Christendom  and  only  the  evil  of 
heathenism — heathenism  is  a  good  word,  and  it  describes  facts. 
Sir  John  Hewett's  account,  as  Lieutenant-Governor,  of  the  con- 
ditions of  sanitation  in  the  United  Provinces  of  India,  will  suffice : 
"  Speaking  generally,  the  death  rates  recorded  in  the  Province 
in  recent  years,  both  in  urban  and  in  rural  tracts,  are  nearly 
three  times  as  high  as  in  England  and  Wales.   It  is  estimated 
that  in  India  nearly  one  out  of  every  ten  of  the  population  is 
constantly  sick,  and  a  person  who  has  escaped  the  diseases  and 
dangers  of  childhood  and  youth,  and  entered  into  manhood  or 
womanhood,  has  an  expectation  that  his  or  her  life  will  extend 
to  only  68  per  cent,  of  the  time  that  a  person  similarly  situated 
may  be  expected  to  live  in  England.  .  .  .  Infantile  mortality 
is  nearly  twice  as  great  as  it  is  in  England.  .  .  .  It  is  lamentable 
that  one  out  of  every  four  children  born  should  die  before  he 
or  she  has  completed  a  year  of  life.  .  .  .  The  average  number 
of  persons  per  house  (which  frequently  consist  of  two  rooms, 
or  even  of  only  one)  is  5.3  in  important  cities,  and  5.5  in  the 
rest  of  the  country.   It  is  estimated  that  Ihe  average  superficial 
area  per  head  of  the  population  is  sometiang  like  10  square  feet, 
and  tf»  breithing  space— 150  cubic  feet—just  half  what  is  re- 
quired in  common  lodging-houses  in  England."    Conditions  in 
Christian  lands  are  not  what  they  should  be,  but  they  are  in- 
finitely superior  to  the  conditions  in  other  lands,  and  in  pro- 
portion as  they  are  Christian,  famine  and  disease  and  want  are 
overcoine.   Are  these  blessings  to  be  ours  alone? 

The  world  needs  the  social  message  and  redemption  of  Chris- 
tianity. Paul  tells  us  that  it  met  and  conquered  the  inequalities 
of  his  time,  A*  chasm  between  citizen  and  foreigner,  master  and 
slave,  man  and  woman.  These  are  the  chasms  of  the  non- 
Christian  world  still.  It  has  no  ideal  of  human  brotherlwod 
save  M  it  has  heard  of  it  through  Christianity.  Not  one  of  the 
aon-Chrirtiaa  rdigkmi  m  dvilisatioat  hat  given  either  wonwi 


26  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

or  cWldren,  especially  girl  children,  their  rights.  There  is  human 
statement  of  a  recent  writer  regarding  China. 
Aat    ctaldren  are  spawned  and  not  born,"  is  surely  most  un- 
true save  on  the  basest  levels  of  life.   But  the  proverb  of  the 
Arab  women  of  Kesrawan  too  truly  suggests  the  Asiatic  point 
of  view:    The  threshold  weeps  forty  days  when  a  giri  is  bom  " 
And  between  man  and  man  the  world  knows  no  deep  basis  of 
common  humanity,  or  if  it  knows,  it  has  no  adequate  sanction 
and  resources  for  its  realisation.   Its  brotherhood  is  within  the 
faith  or  within  the  caste,  not  as  inclusive  as  humanity.  It  wants 
what  all  the  worid  wanted  until  it  found  it  through  Christ 
In  his  htUe  churches,  where  each  person  bore  his  neighbour's 
burden,  Paul s  spirit."  says  Harnack.  "already  saw  the  dav- ling 
of  a  new  humanity,  and  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  he  hsu 
voiced  this  feeling  with  a  thrill  of  exaltation.   Far  in  the  back- 
ground of  these  churches,  like  some  unsubstantial  semblance, 
lay  tfie  division  between  Jew  and  Gentile,  Greek  and  Barbarian, 
great  and  small,  rich  and  poor.   For  a  new  humanity  had  now 
appeared,  and  the  AposUe  viewed  it  as  Christ's  body,  in  which 
every  member  served  the  rest  and  each  was  indispensable  in 
his  own  p  ace.     The  great  social  idea  of  Christianity  is  still 
only  partially  realised  by  us.   But  we  do  not  have  it  at  all  unless 
we  have  It  for  humanity,  and  it  can  be  made  to  prevaU  anywhere 
only  by  being  made  to  prevail  everywhere. 

The  world  needs,  moreover,  the  moral  ideal  and  the  moral 
power  of  Christianity.    The  Christian  conceptions  of  truth  and 
punty  and  love  and  holiness  and  service  are  original.  Everv 
Ideal  except  the  Christian  ideal  is  defective.   Three  other  sets 
of  Ideals  are  offered  to  men.   The  only  other  theistic  ideals  ar« 
the  Mohammedan  and  the  Jewish.  The  Mohammedan  ideal  ex- 
pressly sanctions  polygamy,  and  the  authority  of  its  founder  is 
cited  in  justification  of  falsehood.   The  Jewish  ideal  is  wholly 
enclosed  in  and  transcended  by  the  Christian.    Buddhism  and 
Shintoism  and  Confucianism  offer  men  atheistic  ideals,  i.e..  ideals  , 
wWch  abandon  the  conception  of  tiie  absolute  and  cannot  rise 
above  their  source  in  man  who  made  them.    Hinduiam,  with 
lU  panUieism,  is  incapable  jt  the  moral  distinctioat  wliidi  alone 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  *7 


can  produce  moral  ideals,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  owes  its 
worthy  moral  conceptions  to-day  exclusively  to  the  influence  of 
Christianity.  But  it  is  not  ideals  alone, — it  is  power  for  their 
realisation  that  tiw  world  requires.  That  power  can  be  found 
only  in  life,  in  the  life  of  God  communicated  to  men.  What 
offers  this  or  pretends  to  offer  it  but  Christianity?  How  can 
it  be  offered  by  religions  which  have  no  God,  or  whose  God  has 
no  character? 

For  this  is  the  great  need  of  the  world.   It  needs  the  knowl- 
edge and  the  life  of  the  good  and  fatherly  God.  Its  r  ..n  religions 
have  given  it  neither  of  these,  and  its  own  regions  are  dis- 
integrating. Christianity  has  detached  small  companies  of  people 
from  them,  but  the  influence  of  Christianity  has  penetrated  them 
to  the  marrow.   Let  alone,  it  would  war  against  their  vicious 
elements  and  preserve  all  in  them  capable  of  redemption.  But 
it  will  not  be  let  alone.   Other  influences  are  at  work  upon  the 
religious  conceptions  of  the  non-Christian  world,  and  under  those 
inihieiices  tiie  conceptions  and  tiw  institntimis  of  ^  noo-Chris- 
tian  religions  are  doomed.  Never  did  men  face  a  more  solemn 
responsibility  than  confronts  us  now.  *'  The  ancient  beliefs  and 
customs  of  the  non-Christian  peoples,"  says  Mr.  Bryce  in  a 
recent  letter,  "  are  destined  soon  to  pass  away,  and  it  becomes 
a  matter  of  supreme  importance  to  see  that  new  and  better  moral 
and  religious  principles  are  given  to  them  promptly  to  replace 
what  is  disappearii^;  and  to  endeavour  to  find  methods  for 
preventing  the  faults  or  vices  of  adventurers  and  others  who 
are  trying  to  exploit  the  uncivilised  races  from  becoming  a  fatal 
hindrance  to  the  spread  of  Christianity."  TTie  Christian  nations 
are  Handing  lace  to  face  with  judgment  Iwre.  The  Bishop  of 
Lahore  put  this  earnestly  in  a  Ramsden  sermon  at  Cambridge 
University  many  years  ago.   "  And  is  it  too  much  to  say,"  he 
mquired,  "  that  our  greatest  national  ifiory  or  oar  daepatt  i»- 
tional  shame  will,  in  the  eye  of  history,  turn  in  tlie  way  in  which 
we  recognise  our  responsibility  and  discharge  our  obligations  to 
the  land  [of  IndU]  more,  perhaps,  than  any  ottier  single  aspect 
of  mar  natioiial  Kf«?  That  our  contact  with  India  must,  whether 
wa  will  it  ar  net.  be  tmu^  wkh  iMUts  of  th«  most  moomtoiis 


a8         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

importance  to  taat  land,  is  patent  to  every  one  who  is  the  least 
acquainted  with  the  conditions  of  life  there.   Even  putting  all 
distinctive  missionary  effort  out  of  the  question,  the  merecon- 
tect  of  Western  thought  and  culture  and  education  is  inevitably 
breaking  up  the  older  forms  of  Hindu  thought.   But  it  lies  with 
us  whether  that  contact  shall  be  charged  with  infinite  blessing, 
leading  them  on  to  a  higher,  deeper,  truer  faith,  and  a  new 
national  life,  or  whether,  cutting  them  adrift  from  their  old 
moorings,  we  leave  them  without  Christ,  strangers  from  the 
covenants  of  promise,  having  no  hope  and  without  God  in  the 
worid    But  If,  indeed,  this  is  the  return  that  we  make  them. 
If.  after  holding  the  land  for  our  own  benefit  and  skimming 
It  of  Its  dioicest  productions  and  pouring  into  it  as  a  happy 
solution  of  difficulties  at  home,  in  ever-increaciag  streams.  Sir 
sons  as  civilians,  soldiers,  engineers,  professional  men,  men  of 
business,  artisans,  mechanics,  and  the  like,  we  express  our  in- 
ability  or  our  unwillingnes  to  satisfy  its  hope  and  need  to 
minister  to  its  sore  sickness,  how  think  you  will  this  stand  in 
the  eyes  of  a  righteous  God  Who  loveth  righteousness.  Whose 
countenance  will  behold  the  thing  that  is  just?"  Yes.  how  «e 
we  to  think  that  He  wiU  wgard  such  paltering  with  mantf^t 
missionary  duty?  ^     "i  rawiiiesi 

And  throughout  the  non-Christian  worid  there  are  multitudes 
who  are  consaous  of  their  needs.  They  may  not  regard  Chris- 
tianity as  the  answer  to  their  need.  It  is  not  surprising  if 
ttiey  do  not.  In  what  way  has  Christendom  not  mi.represe^' -  ^ 
Christianity  to  them?  But  they  know  their  need.  "Yous  \ 
as  If  our  country  is  already  a  dead  thing."  «•  -  r  ^e  of 
characters  in  Uchimura's  dialogue  on  "The  Future  of  J. 

Yes.  is  the  reply,  "  immoral  nation  is  already  dead.  With  all 
Its  shows  of  stability,  a  nation  without  a  higA  ideal  is  a  de^d 
corpse.  Japan  under  the  Satsuma  Choshu  Govemr'ent  is  a 
dead  nation."  "  You  speak  very  deter,  -nedly."  "  Yes  "  reolie* 
Uchimura.  "I  have  to;  I  cannot  bear  to  se'e  my  nition  dt?* 
And  there  are  many  who  do  not  wish  to  see  their  nations  die 
m  Asja,  who  turn  to  Christ.  "  All  over  India,"  wrote  Dr.  Cuth- 
Dert  Hall  to  the  missionaries  there  when  he  left  India,  with 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  29 


India's  need  upon  his  heart  and  its  poison  in  his  blood,  "  all 
over  India  are  men  unprepared  to  identify  themselves  with  any 
Christiaii  denomimttion,  to  whom  the  popilar  forms  of  tiie  an- 
cient faith  have  become  inadequate,  if  not  distasteful,  and  for 
whom  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  distinctive  truths  con- 
nected with  that  name  for  the  redemption  of  individuals  and 
the  reconstruction  of  the  social  order,  are  taking  on  new  at- 
tractiveness and  value."  The  fact  that  the  world  is  awaking 
to  its  need,  whether  it  is  drawn  or  repelled  by  Christianity  as 
it  understands  it  matters  not,  adds  a  pathos  to  its  mute  appeal 
to  those  who  have  in  custody  the  Gospel  of  God  in  Christ. 

For  it  is  only  that  Gospel  that  can  meet  the  world's  need. 
Commerce  and  government,  philanthropy  and  education,  deal 
with  it  superficially,  and  in  ttie  hands  of  shallow  or  evil  men 
only  accentuate  it.  A  force  is  needed  which  will  cut  down  to 
the  roots,  which  deals  with  life  in  the  name  and  by  the  power 
of  God,  which  marches  straight  upon  the  soul  and  reconstructs 
character,  which  saves  men  one  by  one.  Here  we  are  flat  upon 
the  issue,  and  not  to  evade  it  or  confuse  it,  I  will  put  it  un- 
mistakably. It  is  our  duty  to  carry  Christianity  to  the  world 
because  tht  wwld  needs  to  be  saved,  and  Christ  akme  can  save 
it.  The  world  needs  to  be  saved  from  want  and  disease  and 
injustice  and  inequality  and  impurity  and  lust  and  hopelessness 
and  fear,  because  individual  men  need  to  be  saved  from  nn 
and  deatii,  and  only  Christ  can  save  them.  His  is  the  only 
religious  power  which  will  reach  down  deep  enough  to  transform, 
and  will  hold  till  transformation  is  fixed.  Christianity  alone  is 
the  region  which  win  do  this  and  will  struggle  until  it  has  pre- 
vailed. The  American  Consul-General  at  Hong  Kong,  Mr.  Wil- 
der, tmderstands  this:  "Commerce,  exploitation  of  resources, 
diplomacy,  personal  contact,  secular  education  even,  have  had 
tfMir  way ;  they  are  handmaids  of  truth,  but  they  do  not  do  the 
work.  The  Anglo-Saxon  has  rubbed  against  the  Chinese  for  a 
century  in  South  China,  yet  the  crudest  forms  of  superstition 
atxmnd  in  ahiwst  every  native  home;  tewdry  dragons  are  carried 
about  the  streets  to  expel  the  plague ;  polygamy  and  slavery  are 
common,  and  one  may  only  infer  the  dark  scenes  that  must  be 


30         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


enacted  under  a  system  whose  heaven  can  be  bought  or  whose 
bell  can  be  averted  by  burning  coloured  sawdust  and  vain  repeti- 
tions. You  say  that  our  American-Europeui  fUmss  of  these 
coast  ports  are  no  less  abhorrent.  We  deny  it  absolutely.  We 
confess  the  sorry  showing,  but  we  point  out  the  constant  protest, 
the  disgrace  attached  to  it,  the  periodic  war  on  it;  the  promise 
from  the  operation  of  Christian  resistance  and  uplift  elsewhere 
of  better  days  to  come  in  the  Far  East.  There  is  this  all-im- 
portant difference:  pagan  vice  and  ignorance  are  a  dead  incubus, 
with  no  hope  from  within.  Paganism,  unaided,  never  improves. 
In  a  Christian  community  where  you  find  vice  and  degradation 
there  is  no  peace,  there  is  recurring  protest;  some  one  is  forever 
carrying  forward  the  standard  and  bidding  the  line  to  come  up: 
if  one  generation  does  not  relieve  the  iniquity,  better  men  and 
women  to  follow  us  force  the  improvement." 

And  Christianity  does  this  by  striking  down  to  the  individual 
and  saving  him.  It  saves  him  by  the  power  of  God  in  Christ, 
working  in  and  upon  him.  The  missionary  duty  is  this  duty. 
"1  hold  education,"  says  Uchimura,  "as  essentially  personal 
and  individualistic."  And  he  uses  the  term  education  in  it. 
broad  sense.  There  is  more  to  education  than  this.  Society  is 
something  more  than  the  sum-total  of  individuals,  but  it  begins 
and  ends  with  individuals,  and  the  need  of  the  worid  is  primarily 
the  need  of  its  individuals,  and  the  salvation  of  the  worM  the 
salvation  of  its  soul  through  the  salvation  of  its  souls.  The 
world's  need,  and  the  full  supply  of  that  need  in  Christianity, 
is  the  basis  of  missionary  du^  and  the  perception  of  the  need, 
the  knowledge  that  Christ  can  supply  it  and  the  s^init  of  sym- 
pathy and  fairness  which  any  true  knowledge  of  Christ  will 
give,  are  the  fountains  of  the  missionary  motive. 

We  have  been  often  told  in  recent  years  that  the  atmosfribeie 
in  which  the  modern  missionary  movement  was  conceived  has 
passed  away  and  that  the  movement  cannot  live  in  the  new  days 
that  have  come.  New  theological  ideas  and  new  principles  of 
human  progress,  it  is  said,  have  cut  fht  foundation  from  beneath 
the  missionary  duty.  What  are  the  new  theological  ideas  which 
have  dom  this?   They  resolve  themselves,  the  new  teachers 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  31 


tell  us,  into  the  idea  of  God  as  the  loving  God  and  Father  of 
all  mankind.  Who  loves  all  equally  and  is  equally  teaching  all 
and  leading  them  to  Himsdf.  But  when  did  this  idea  become 
new?  Paul  held  it  It  was  this  very  conception  which  led  the 
founders  of  foreign  missions  to  go  out  to  the  nations  which  had 
no  such  notion  of  God,  in  order  to  make  clear  to  them  Him 
after  Whom  tiiey  had  been  ignorantly  feeling.  If  modem  the- 
ology boasts  of  a  better  God  than  the  founders  of  missions 
knew,  and  shows  itself  less  zealous  to  share  its  better  God  with 
all  the  world,  we  will  be  forced  to  regard  its  better  God  as  a 
delusion.  How  good  a  man's  God  really  is  will  be  shown  by 
the  man's  eagerness  to  make  Him  known  to  all  the  world.  If 
new  theological  conceptions  do  not  lead  men  to  do  this,  they 
will  have  no  power  in  them,  and  no  tong-ccmtimttng  life  The- 
ology without  a  missionary  spirit  only  appears  to  deal  with  a 
good  God,  and  to  believe  in  Him.  The  men  who  really  believe 
in  a  good  God  will  continue  the  passionate  effort  to  give  Him 
to  all  men  and  aU  men  to  Him.  And  what  are  the  new  prin- 
ciples of  human  progress  which  have  dissolved  the  missionary 
motive  ?  The  force  of  evolution,  we  are  told,  by  which  all  people 
are  being  devek^wd  toward  the  sure  goal.  But  evcdution  is  no 
force.  It  is  simply  the  commonplace  method  of  action  by  which 
results  have  always  been  wrought  everywhere.  You  get  out 
of  causes  only  what  is  in  them,  and  there  is  in  the  world's  need, 
its  moral  and  spiritual  destitution,  no  power  of  self-fulfilment. 
We  believe  that  the  nations  and  the  souls  of  men  will  move 
upward  and  forward  towards  a  worthy  end  only  if  living  forces 
capable  of  lifting  them  toward  such  an  end  are  set  to  work 
upon  them.  The  new  day  discerns  this,  and  the  missionary 
motive  will  not  only  survive  into  the  new  day, — ^it  will  be  more 
powerful  then  than  ever  in  the  past. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Hht  missionary  motive  does  not  change. 
The  enterprise  rests  now  on  the  same  foundation  on  which  it 
has  always  rested, — on  which  it  rested  at  the  beginning.  Our 
Lord  came  to  give  men  life  abundantly,  to  save  them  from  Hmr 
sins,  to  show  them  the  Father,  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  World. 
The  dtscifdes  went  out  to  give  to  others  what  had  meant  every- 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


thing  to  them,  to  proclaim  a  kingdom  which  was  the  true  prin- 
ciple of  life,  to  deliver  men  from  darkness  to  Kg^it  and  frooa 
tiie  power  of  Satan  imto  God,  to  give  them  freedom  from  their 
sins,  to  tell  them  good  news,  to  bring  them  unto  God,  and  to 
bring  to  them  the  love  and  strength  and  forgiveness  of  God  in 
Christ  A  great  tove  and  sense  of  htnnan  brotiwrfaood,  of  the 
<nieness  of  humanity  in  its  need,  and  the  oneness  of  its  hope 
and  privilege  in  God,  filled  the  hearts  of  the  disciples  with  a 
compassion  which  was  and  is  the  essence  of  Ae  missioaary 
spirit. 

These  have  been  the  motives  which  have  led  the  missionaries 
out  in  all  ages.  Adolphus  Good  wrote  that  his  reasons  for  going 
to  Africa  were  "  just  about  tfiose  that  would  suggest  tfiemsdves 
to  any  one.  The  Gospel  is  here  within  the  reach  of  all,  and  many 
of  the  temporal  benefits,  at  least,  are  enjoyed  by  all.  The 
heathen  have  neither.  This,  I  think,  makes  it  the  duty,  especially 
of  every  young  minister,  to  enquire  not,  'Why  should  I  go?' 
but '  Why  should  I  not  go? '  "  M.  Berthoud  chose  Africa  under 
a  sense  of  the  obligation  resting  upon  Christians  to  atone  to 
Africa  for  the  wrongs  of  slavery.  •*  It  is  Hht  Gospel. '  hi  sud, 
"  which  has  b^n  to  make  amends,  and  it  is  the  Gospel  which 
will  certainly  complete  the  work.  The  Gospel  will  yet  make 
Africa  one  of  the  most  beautiful  territories  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  .  .  .  What  »  privily  to  be  called  to  labour  in  this  great 
undertaking!"  I  have  chosen  two  missionaries,  not  among  the 
best  known,  who  justly  represent  the  motives  which  have  actually 
sustained  the  missionary  enterprise,  although  these  two  need  to 
be  supplemented  by  a  third,  whose  words  add  the  deeper  lement 
of  loving  devotion.  "  I  see,"  said  Raymond  Lull,  "  many  knights 
going  to  the  Holy  Land  beyond  the  seas,  but  in  the  end  all  are 
destroyed  before  th^  attain  that  which  they  tiiink  to  have. 
Whence  it  seems  to  me,  that  the  conquest  of  the  Holy  Land 
ought  not  to  be  attempted  except  in  the  way  in  wLIch  Thou 
and  Thy  apostles  acquired  it,  namely,  by  love  and  prayers,  and 
the  pouring  out  of  tears  and  blood." 

The  idea  that  the  supreme  missionary  motive  has  been  the 
desire  to  save  the  souls  of  the  heathen  from  hell  rests  upon  a 


THE  MISSIONARY  DOTY  AND  MOTIVES  33 


very  partial  and  inaccurate  knowledge  of  missionary  literatnre. 
That  idea  has  entered  deefdy  into  taen's  thoughts  uid  it  repre- 
sents a  great  and  solemn  truth,  but  in  the  crude  form  in  which 
it  is  flung  reproachfully  at  the  missionary  movement  it  has  never 
constituted  die  foundatkm  of  the  missionary  enterprise.  The 
£^sdes  of  Paul  know  nothing  of  it.  He  never  once  uses  the 
word  hell.  He  is  so  engrossed  in  living  issues  that  he  says  little 
about  destinies.  He  saw  men  dead  without  Christ,  and  he  was 
more  concerned  with  bringing  them  life  than  with  speculatwn 
as  to  the  issue  of  their  death.  There  has  always  been  far  more 
speculation  on  the  future  fate  of  the  heathen  among  stay-at- 
homes  than  among  missionaries. 

The  future  destiny  of  any  man  is  not  a  thing  to  trifle  over. 
The  New  Testament  certainly  does  not  deal  lightly  with  it.  We 
have  no  slightest  ground  for  diluting  the  solemn  significance  of 
man's  present  li  e  as  determining  tiie  future,  as  an  int^ral  and 
ordering  part  of  the  man's  eternal  career.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  know  that  men  are  not  to  be  judged  as  though  all  had  seen 
the  same  light.  No  nu.  is  lost  for  not  accepting  a  Saviour  of 
whom  be  has  never  heard.  Men  are  lost  because  sin  destroys 
them,  and  they  are  lost  now  because  sin  is  now  alienating  them 
from  God  and  blinding  them  to  light.  What  we  have  to  deal 
with  is  not  destinies  tmt  lacts.  Salvatkm  is  saWatton  from  a 
destiny  only  because  it  is  salvation  from  the  fact  of  sin.  As 
by  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  God  saved 
men  before  Christ  came,  so  now  He  is  dealing  witii  men 
in  tlw  nations  which  arc  sttO  B.  C  But  this  absohres  us  from 
no  missionary  duty,  for  first,  we  know  these  nations  and  we  see 
there  no  salvati<m  such  as  the  Lamb  made  flesh  has  wrou^t, 
and  secondly,  we  do  see  there  such  sickness  of  society  and  of 
the  soul  as  only  Christ  can  heal.  We  think  with  awe  of  Ae 
future,  and  that  awe  is  the  background  of  our  missionary  medi- 
tation, but  our  duty  is  the  duty  of  carrying  a  present  deliverance 
ami  revealing  to  men  a  present  FaAna  of  Love  and  a  prca«nt 
Saviour  of  Power. 

This  and  not  the  eschatological  consideration  has  been  the 
real  missioiiary  motive  in  aU  ages.  Even  when  the  eichatolflgicri 


34         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


consideration  was  given  bold  and  conspicuous  utterance,  it  was 
a  noode  of  speech  to  express  what  Paul  also  felt  and  we  feel, 
and  what  Paul  also  expressed  and  we  express  wtdi  a  different 
emphasis.   It  was  a  way  of  descrioing  human  need,  but  it  was 
the  need,  howsoever  described,  and  Uving  faith  in  Christ  and 
His  Gospel  as  akme  able  to  meet  tint  need  that  has  ever  con- 
stituted the  ground  and  motive  of  missions.    Indeed,  if  we  go 
back  to  the  appeals  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  missionary  enter- 
prise at  the  beginning  of  the  modem  movement,  we  shall  find 
their  emphasis  often  less  appreciative  of  the  individualistic  and 
distinctively  religious  character  of  the  enterprise,  and  more  social 
and  political  than  our  own.  "  Can  we  as  men  or  as  Christians," 
asks  Carey  in  his  famous  "  Enquiry  into  the  Obligations  of 
Christians  to  Use  Means  for  the  Qmversion  of  the  Heathen," 
"  hear  that  a  great  part  of  our  fellow-creatures,  whose  souls  are 
as  immortal      ours,  and  who  are  as  capable  as  ourselves  of 
adorning  the  Gnspd  and  crnitributit^^  by  their  preaching,  writ- 
ings, or  practices  to  the  glory  of  our  Redeemer's  name  and  the 
good  of  His  Church,  are  enveloped  in  ignorance  and  barbarism  ? 
Can  we  hear  tiiat  thqr  are  wi^out  the  Gospel,  without  govern- 
ment, without  laws,  and  without  arts  and  sciences,  and  not  exert 
ourselves  to  introduce  among  them  the  sentiments  of  men,  and 
of  Christians?  Would  not  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  be  the  most 
effectual  means  of  tiieir  civilisation?  Would  not  that  make  tiwm 
useful  members  of  society  ?  "   This  was  the  characteristic  iwte 
of  the  argument  advanced  at  the  beginning  of  the  modem  mis- 
sionary enterprise.  In  America  two  of  the  greatest  of  the  early 
leaders  were  Jeremiah  Evarts  and  Walter  Lowrie,  both  of  them 
public  men  who  g-nve  up  law  and  politics  to  serve  the  cause  of 
missions.   In  an  address  to  the  Christian  public,  issued  in  i8ia, 
Evarts  wrote:  "  It  is  now  generally  seen  and  felt  by  those  who 
l»ve  any  claim  to  be  considered  as  proper  judges,  that  Chris- 
tianity is  the  only  remedy  for  the  disorders  and  miseries  of  the 
worid,  as  well  as  the  only  foundation  of  hope  for  the  world  to 
come.  No  other  agent  will  ever  ctmtrol  the  vident  passions  of 
men,  and  without  the  true  religion  all  attempts  to  meliorate  the 
conditions  of  mankind  will  prove  as  illusory  as  a  feverish  dream. 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  35 


The  genuine  patriot,  therefore,  and  the  genuine  (diilanthrO)t*ist, 
must  labour,  so  far  as  they  vahie  the  prosperity  of  their  country 
and  the  happitifff  of  the  human  race,  to  diffuse  the  knowledge 
and  the  influence  of  Christianity  at  home  and  abroad.  Thus  will 
they  labour  most  effectually  to  put  a  final  period  to  oppression 
and  slavery,  to  perfidy  and  war,  and  to  all  tiw  train  of  evils 
whidi  falsehood,  ambition,  and  cruelty  have  so  profusely  scat- 
tered through  the  world."  Lowrie  was  ever  writing  and  speak- 
ing in  the  same  vein.  We  find  in  the  early  missionary  writings 
a  preponderant  appeal  to  the  moral  need  of  the  world.  It  needs 
a  spiritual  regeneration  now.  It  needs  the  establishment  of 
Christian  institutions  now.  The  charge  of  a  narrow  eschato- 
logical  appeal  never  did  hold  against  Uie  missionary  movement 
An  adequate  knowledge  of  missionary  literature  would  lay  it 
open  rather,  I  think,  to  the  error  of  over-moralising  and  over- 
socialising  the  missionary  duty.  Neither  in  missions  nor  in  life 
have  we  lived  enou^  under  the  shadow  of  the  eternal. 

The  fundamental  missionary  duty,  then,  is  the  application 
to  the  need  of  the  world  of  God  in  Christ,  its  only  hope  and 
salvation,  and  the  fundamental  elements  of  the  missionary  motive 
are  compassion  for  the  world,  and  loyalty  to  Christ  and  the 
Spirit  of  a  fair  and  equal  ove  which  shares  its  good  with  all. 
The  missionary  movement  will  be  carried  on  by  those  who  feel 
the  tmrden  of  dris  duty  and  re^KM^  to  thesu  motives.  There  are, 
however,  supplementary  and  subordinate  considerations,  which 
do  not  constitute  the  missionary  motive  but  which  are  of  interest 
and  significance. 

In  the  first  place,  tiie  outward  movement  of  civilisation  re- 
quires the  missionary  enterprise,  for  three  purposes, — to  advance 
it,  to  support  it,  and  to  correct  it.  The  missionary  enterprise 
has  advanced  tins  movenaent  steadily  from  the  b^irniii^,  and 
even  now,  when  the  movement  has  progressed  so  far  that  it  is 
pnme  to  ignore  missions,  it  is  receiving  evident  advantage  from 
them.  Two  quotations  from  recent  consular  reports  will  suffice 
as  iOnstrations :  "  The  medical  branch  of  missions,"  reports  the 
American  Vice-Consul  at  Chefoo,  "is  probably  doing  more  to- 
ward reconciling  the  Chinese  to  foreign  association  than  any 


36 


CHRISTIANITY  ASD  THE  NATIONS 


other  agency.  In  Weihsien,  where  no  foreigner  has  hitherto  been 
permitted  to  live,  an  American  medical  missionary  has  recently 
opened  a  dispensary.   During  a  recent  overland  trip  to  that  city, 
the  mention  of  acquaintance  with  the  missicmary  invariably  put 
me  on  a  friendly  footing.    Such  contact  with  this  work  forces 
the  conclusion  that  the  missionaries  are  practical  forerunners  of 
commercial  enterprise.  They  seldom  fail  to  win  the  respect  and 
esteem  even  of  those  who  do  not  accept  their  doctrines,  and 
they  unconsciously  pave  the  way  for  further  foreign  intercourse." 
—{Daily  Consular  and  Trade  Reports,  March  i6,  1909,  p.  13,) 
"  There  are  about  fifty  American  missionaries  living  within  this 
territory,"  writes  the  American  Consul-General  at  Boma,  in 
Africa,  "  whose  civilising  work  and  influence  among  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  1,500,000  natives  comprising  the  population  will  un- 
doubtedly result  in  largely  increasing  the  demand  for  light- 
weight cheap  clothing  and  for  numerous  household  articles. 
These  agents  of  civilisation  are  pioneer  salesmen  and  are  instru- 
ments in  introducing  products  of  their  own  country.  .  .  .  One 
of  the  first  steps  to  be  taken  at  the  present  time,  aiming  at  the 
introduction  of  American  goods  into  this  country  by  the  mail 
order  system  is  to  get  in  touch  with  the  missionaries."— (Z?ai/y 
Consular  and  Trade  Reports,  April  5,  1909,  p.  3.)   But  missions 
are  advancing  civilisation  in  a  far  more  vital  and  significant  way 
than  simply  by  opening  markets  for  foreign  goods  and  disposing 
the  people  to  foreign  intercourse.   They  are  planting  the  prin- 
ciples of  ordered  life,  teaching  people  what  lies  at  the  base  of 
civilisation,  and  so  permanently  increasing  their  capacity  for 
trade  and  elevating  the  class  of  trade  of  which  they  are  capable. 
"  The  benefits  of  the  missionary  work  in  New  Guinea,"  says 
Hugh  Milman,  a  magistrate,  "are  immense,  inter-tribal  fights 
formerly  so  common  being  at  an  end,  and  trading  and  com- 
munication, one  tribe  with  another,  now  being  carried  on  with- 
out fear."   "  It  is  they,"  says  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston,  speaking  of 
British  Central  Africa,  "  who  in  many  cases  have  first  taught 
the  natives  carpentry,  joining,  masonry,  tailoring,  cobbling,  en- 
gineering, bookkeeping,  printing,  European  cookery,  to  say  no^ 
ing  of  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  a  naatttr^  of  gownl 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  37 


knowledge.  Almost  invariably  it  has  been  to  missionaries  that 
the  natives  of  *r  cr-or  Africa  have  owed  their  first  acquaintance 
with  a  printing  press,  the  timing-lathe,  the  mangle,  the  flat-iron, 
the  sawmill  aru  the  ')ri  -'  mould."  And  in  lands  of  a  more 
advanced  a.  d  ornpac'ed  civilisation  of  their  own,  like  China, 
the  missionai>  liz^  introduced  movable  type,  the  newspaper, 
Western  education,  scientific  textbooks,  and  practically  all  that 
is  known  of  medicine  and  surgery.  He  was  China's  only  guide 
in  her  first  steps.  God  has  wrought  in  the  world  by  many  forces, 
but  none  has  compared  in  purity  and  power  with  the  force  of 
missions.  "  The  missionary,  the  philanthropist,  the  social  re- 
former, and  others  of  the  same  sort,"  says  Lord  Cromer  patron 
isingly,  "  should  have  a  fair  field.  Their  intentions  are  excellent, 
altlK>ug^  at  times  their  judgment  may  be  defective.  They  will, 
if  under  some  control,  probably  do  much  good  on  a  small  scale. 
They  may  even,  being  carried  away  by  the  enthusiasm  which 
pays  no  heed  to  worldly  prudence,  effect  reforms  more  important 
than  tf-ose  of  the  administrator  and  politician,  who  will  follow 
cautiously  in  their  track,  and  perhaps  reap  the  result  of  their 
labours."  Financially,  the  missionary  agency  is  one  of  the  pettiest 
forces  at  work  on  the  non-Christian  world.  Its  total  annual  ex- 
penditure is  less  than  the  cost  of  three  battleships,  and  not  as 
much  as  the  annual  maintenance  of  the  Italian  navy.  Yet  small 
at  it  is,  it  has  m'de  a  deeper  impact  in  the  name  of  civilisation 
than  any  other  agency,  and  ail  its  mistakes  from  the  beginning, 
put  together,  have  not  been  one-thousandth  part  as  costly  as  the 
single  mistake  of  Gordon's  fall  in  the  Soudan  and  what  followed 
it,  to  whomsoever  that  mistake  may  have  been  due. 

The  missionary  movement  has  not  only  advanced  civilisation ; 
it  has  been  and  is  required  to  support  it.  Civilisation  rests  upon 
great  moral  ideas.  It  is  not  a  mere  ammerdal  affair.  It 
could  not  be  at  all  the  great  commercial  affair  it  is  if  it  were 
not  for  the  moral  ideas  which  underlie  it.  It  is  only  possible 
as  the  people  who  would  enjoy  it  are  animated  in  some  real 
measure  by  the  principles  on  which  it  rests.  Marquis  I  to  taw 
a  great  light  in  this  regard  in  his  last  years.  Some  years  ago 
he  repudiated  the  idea  of  the  importance  of  religion  to  national 


38  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


life.  It  was  mere  superstition  from  which  intelligent  men  eman- 
cipated themselves,  but  in  December,  1908,  he  told  a  gathering 
of  Christian  people  at  a  dedication  of  a  building  in  Seoul  that 
in  the  early  years  of  Japan's  reformation  the  senior  statesmen 
were  opposed  to  religious  toleration,  especially  because  of  dis- 
trust of  Christianity.  "  But,"  said  he,  "  I  fought  vehemently 
for  freedom  of  belief  and  propagation,  and  finally  triumphed. 
My  reasoning  was  this:  civilisation  depends  upon  morality,  and 
the  highest  morality  upon  religion.  Therefore,  religion  must  be 
tolerated  and  encoun^ged.  It  is  for  the  same  reason  that  I 
wdcome  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  believing  that 
it  is  a  powerful  ally  in  the  great  task  I  have  undertaken  in 
attempting  to  put  the  feet  of  Korea  upon  the  pathway  of  true 
civilisation."  President  Taft  also  saw  this  light  when  he  went 
out  as  Governor-General  to  the  Philippines.  "  The  missionary 
societies,"  said  he,  when  he  grasped  the  facts,  "have  great 
responsibilities  with  reference  to  tide  expansion  of  civilisation 
in  distant  lands,  as  I  came  to  realise  much  more  fully  than  ever 
before  in  my  cont  tct  with  this  work  while  in  the  Far  East. 
No  one  can  study  the  movement  of  modem  civilisation  from 
an  impartial  standpoint  and  not  realise  that  Christianity  and 
the  spread  of  Christianity  are  the  only  basis  for  hope  of  modem 
civilisation  in  the  growth  of  popular  self-government."  Chris- 
tianity is  the  only  religion  which  can  do  this  service  for  civilisa- 
tion. It  is  the  only  religion  which  can  live  with  civilisation, 
for  the  reason  that  what  is  good  in  civilisation  Christianity 
has  produced  or  fortified,  and  that  what  is  evil  in  it  Christianity 
alone  can  correct  and  subdue. 

And  there  is  much  evil  in  Western  civilisation  with  which 
Christianity  must  wage  war.  The  conflict  is  fiercer  than  ever 
now  at  home,  and  tiie  need  of  Christianity  as  the  corrective 
of  our  civilisation  abroad  is  even  more  acute  because  the  brand 
we  export  is  tainted,  our  best  badly  tainted  with  our  worst. 
To  correct  that  taint,  to  accuse  civilisation  of  its  treachery 
whenever  it  misrepresents  our  highest  to  die  other  nations,  to 
express  to  those  nations  the  ideal  of  service  with  which  Chris- 
tianity is  seeldng  to  permeate  human  life,  to  teach  purity  and 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  39 


love,  where  so  many  are  teaching  lust  and  hate,  to  hold  the 
whole  movement  of  the  West  true  to  its  missionary  duty — 
for  this  mini  ^ry  foreign  missions  are  indispensable  to  civilisa- 
tion. As  Mr.  Roosevelt  has  plainly  put  it :  "  In  past  history 
it  has  ever  been  true  that  all  enterprises,  whether  of  govern- 
ments or  of  private  individuals,  whether  of  scholars  or  of 
men  of  action,  have  needed  the  awakening  and  controlling  power 
of  that  high  and  self-sacrificing  morality  which  accompanies 
the  Christian  religion,  and  nowadays  it  is  needed  more  than 
ever  because  of  the  marvellous  ways  in  which  both  the  good 
and  bad  in  civilised  nations  are  being  carried  to  the  utmost  parts 
of  the  earth."  The  good  and  the  bad!  "I  can  honestly  state," 
said  Joseph  Thompson  of  his  visit  to  missions  in  Nyasaland, 
"  that  for  the  first  time  in  all  my  wide  African  travels,  I  have 
found  a  spot  where  the  advent  of  the  white  man  may  be  de- 
scribed as  an  unmitigated  blessing  to  the  nation."  The  mis- 
sionary duty  would  extend  that  spot  to  cover  the  whole  non- 
Christian  world.  The  outv.  aid  movement  of  civilisation  requires 
the  missionary  enterprise,  but  the  outward  movement  of  civilisa- 
tion should  be  itself  a  missionary  enterprise.  The  foreign  mis- 
sions of  the  Church  alone  are  capable  of  impressing  that  ideal 
upon  it. 

Not  only  does  the  outward  movement  of  civilisation  require 
the  missionary  enterprise.  The  Church  also  requires  it  "  We 
are  plainly  taught  by  God,"  says  an  old  writer  on  "Obedience, 
the  Life  of  Missions,"  "  that  it  was  for  this  very  purpose  that 
the  Church  was  established.  God  placed  it  where  it  is,  in  the 
centre  of  its  own  particular  orbit — ^just  as  He  did  the  sun  and 
the  moon  and  the  stars — to  give  light  unto  all.  For  this  very 
end,  and  no  other,  were  each  particular  Church  and  the  Church 
universal — which  is  the  sum  of  all  particular  Churches — ordained 
and  established  on  the  poles  of  truth  and  in  the  sphere  of  sinful 
humanity,  that  they  might  each  one,  according  to  their  ability, 
irradiate  its  darkness  with  the  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of 
the  blessed  God."— -(Smyth,  "  Obedience,  the  Life  of  Missions," 
p.  54).  No  institution  can  deliberately  repudiate  its  fundamental 
purpose,  its  main  reason  for  being,  and  not  suffer  for  it  The 


40  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


Christian  Church  will  certainly  suffer  if  she  does  it.  She  has 
suffered.  Her  energies  have  shrivelled,  her  visions  have  died, 
her  grasp  on  her  nearby  problem  has  relaxed,  her  sense  of  God 
has  thinned  until  it  has  vanished,  and  she  has  lost  her  power 
whenever  and  so  far  as  she  has  forgotten  or  evaded  her  mission 
to  the  world.  She  wonders  why  her  word  is  so  ineffective,  and 
her  projects  so  unavailing,  and  her  activities  so  fruitless.  The 
reason  is  she  has  betrayed  her  character  and  ignored  her  busi- 
ness. The  last  word  of  Christ  shows  her  where  the  secret  of 
a  new  and  sufficient  power  is  to  be  found.  In  the  execution 
of  her  mission  to  the  whole  world,  and  <mly  so,  Christ  promises 
with  all  His  power  to  be  in  the  Church.  Our  schemes  and  our 
preachings  are  impotent  because  He  is  absent  from  them,  and 
there  is  only  one  way  to  bring  Him  back  into  them.  Exhorta- 
tion and  resolution  will  not  avail.  Prayer  itself  will  be  futile 
because  unreal,  if  offered  on  the  old  basis  of  distortion  of  the 
divine  purpose  and  disobedience  to  the  divine  will  and  dis- 
loyalty to  the  divine  character.  There  is  one  way  wily  to 
bring  Christ  and  His  divine  power  into  the  Church,  and  that 
is  to  bring  the  Church  into  her  right  mission  and  purpose  toward 
die  worid,  as  the  channel  for  the  life  of  God  into  all  the  life 
of  all  men.  And  any  sacrifice  by  the  Church  of  her  true  mis- 
sionary character  involves  loss  not  to  the  Church  alone,  but  to 
tiie  world  through  the  Church,  "  Let  us  heed  the  solemn  warn- 
ing across  the  ages  of  the  Church  of  the  fourth  century.  Imagine 
what  would  have  been  if  tl.e  Nicene  Council,  when  for  the 
last  time  the  garment  of  Christ  was  seen  unrent  and  all  Christen- 
dom sat  togetiier,  had  done  its  duty,  and  instead  of  disputing 
upon  dogma  and  dividing  on  doctrine,  had  become  a  great 
missionary  assembly,  and  felt  upon  miter  and  imperial  circlet 
the  Pentecostal  flame.  Suppose,  only  suppose,  that  the  great 
council,  whose  supreme  ability  no  student  of  history  can  dioubt, 
had  done  its  full  missionary  duty,  and  the  northern  and  southern 
nations  had  been  converted  before,  instead  of  after  the  con- 
quest of  the  Roman  Empire.  Suppose  Arabia  had  known  « 
missionary  Christ  before  Mohammed,  and  that  Saxon  on  the 
Elbe,  and  French  beyond  the  Rhine,  and  Go(h  bdow  tiie  two 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  4t 


rivers,  had  heard  the  Gospel  in  the  fourth  century  instead  of 
the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth.  Is  it  not  possible  that  a  thou- 
sand years  of  wasted  history,  which  have  cast  more  than  three- 
quarters  of  the  Christian  Church  under  the  cloud  of  superstition, 
would  have  been  saved  if  the  Church  of  the  fourth  century 
had  been  a  missionary  Church,  looking  without,  instead  of 
witfiin?"--(TALCOTr  Wiluams,  "  Men  and  Mis&ions,"  p.  ii  ff.) 

The  missionary  duty  bids  us  not  repeat  that  mistake  to-day. 
Many  other  voices  are  summoning  us  to  reproduce  it.  We  are 
bidden  to  give  heed  to  our  doctrine.  The  doctrine  will  take 
care  of  itself  if  we  carry  God  in  Christ  to  the  world.  It  will 
pollute  fast  enough  if  we  sit  down  about  it  to  dissect  it.  We 
are  bidden  to  look  at  home  and  see  what  we  shall  see.  We 
diaU  see  far  worse  things  if  we  fail  to  see,  also,  and  as  equally 
in  the  love  and  care  of  God  and  of  equal  title  in  the  Gospel, 
those  other  sheep  of  whom  Christ  spoke,  and  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth-  Rather  the  very  hope  of  the  Church  for  her  life 
and  wwk  at  home  is  m  her  clearer  discenmwnt  and  ridwr 
acceptance  of  her  whole  mission. 

And  just  such  an  urgent  need  throughout  the  world  as  the 
Chttrdi  of  the  foartfi  century  failed  to  see  in  ito  day  confronta 
the  Church  in  ours.  There  is  the  obvious  abiding  and  always 
urgent  need  of  every  human  life  for  Christ.  If  we  Christian 
men  need  Christ,  every  man  needs  Him.  If  we  find  His  help 
sttffcicnt  and  His  salvaticm  indispensable,  odwr  men's  hearts, 
we  need  to  remember,  are  just  like  our  own.  If  we  could  not 
dispense  with  Christ,  if  we  sing  truthfully,  "I  could  not  do 
withmtt  Thee,  Thou  Saviour  of  tiie  lost,"  other  men  camwt  do 
wititottt  Him.  The  old  missionary  appeal  which  bade  us  reach 
men  because  they  are  so  fast  passing  beyond  our  reach  is  an 
ever  true  appeal.  Men  are  passing  away  to  whom  Christ  should 
haw  been  given  beftwc  ^wy  passed  out  from  us,  given  bccMisa 
they  needed  Him  while  they  were  here,  given  because  they  should 
have  not  passed  out  without  Him  whither  they  have  gone. 

The  ideal  of  the  evangelisation  of  the  world  in  this  genera- 
tion  is  a  Intimate  ideal  It  il  more  than  that.  It  is  a  necessary 
idaaL  Tha  Goqwl  can  nmr  be  givtn  to  Uw  whola  world  kk 


42  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


any  other  way.  Dead  men  cannot  evangelise  the  world.  Even 
if  you  could  evangelise  dead  men,  that  would  leave  the  living 
world  stin  to  be  evangelised.  "  Every  creature "  means  to  us 
"our  generation."  To  preach  the  Gospel  to  them  means  to 
evangelise  them.  Now  is  our  day  of  obedience,  and  now  the 
word  of  Christ  and  what  that  word  embodies,  the  will  of  God 
and  the  need  of  the  worid,  caU  us  to  carry  forward  to  completion 
the  missionary  task. 

But  the  present  situation  has  also  its  special  urgency.  The 
whole  worid  is  astir  now  and  plastic.  Great  tides  are  running 
which  should  be  grasped  and  ordered  in  the  name  of  God. 
Nations  are  reshaping  and  new  destinies  are  determining.  It 
is  Christianity's  day  of  opportunity  and  trial.  Fifteen  years 
ago  the  authoritative  books  on  Asia  pr^ched  the  doctrine  of 
its  stagnation  and  sterility.  Mr.  Nomum  applied  to  China  the 
lines : 

"Aloof  from  our  mutation  and  unrest. 
Alien  to  our  achievement  and  desires." 

And  Mr.  Townsend  declared  that  some  mysterious  fiat  of  arrest 
seemed  to  have  fallen  upon  the  yellow  races,  makit^  them  in- 
accessible to  new  principles  from  -without  and  stamping  all 
foreign  missions  whether  of  politics  or  religion  as  futile  and 
vain. 

We  look  out  upon  a  situation  to-day  completely  belying  these 
hopeless  predictions.  We  see  in  Asia  a  great  industrial  awaken- 
ing. In  these  fifteen  years  the  exports  of  Japan  have  grown 
from  91,000,000  yen  to  432,000,000  and  her  imports  frwn  71,- 
000,000  to  494,000,000.  The  China  railroads  have  grown  from 
200  miles  to  3,746,  with  1,622  more  under  construction.  New 
industries  are  springing  up  everywhere,  and  the  worid  has  some- 
thing to  look  forward  to  in  the  production  by  cheap  labour 
from  raw  material,  produced  on  the  spot  by  cheap  labour,  and 
manufactured  on  machinery  made  by  cheap  labour,  of  the  very 
commodities  which  now  constltate  our  export  tra<fe.  Agafaist 
that  indust.ial  development  our  protective  tariflFs  will  take  on 
a  pitiful  significance.  We  see  in  Asia,  also,  a  great  intellectual 


THE.MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  43 


awakening.'  Six  million  pupils  are  in  the  public  schools  of  Japan. 
In  China,  the  vastest  nation  on  earth  has  cut  away  its  old  and 
antiquated  system  and  is  groping  toward  tiie  new  lights,  and 
a  new  press  is  beginning  the  education  of  the  multitudes  too 
old  to  go  to  school,  while  a  new  post-office  system,  with  2,000 
offices,  and  handling,  in  1906,  103,000,000  articles,  is  beginning 
to  unify  the  thou^ts  of  the  peqde.  And  what  is  more  w<mder- 
ful,  the  Moslem  world  has  been  talking  of  freedom  of  thought, 
and  actually  thinking  freely.  The  world  never  dreamed  to  see 
the  Moslem  caliph  and  sultan  flung  down  by  Mohammedan 
iMmds  in  the  interest  of  free  institutions.  All  Asia  has  begun 
to  think  and  talk,  and  its  language  is  the  language  of  men  of 
free  minds.  The  froth  of  license  and  excess  is  only  the  sure 
evidence  of  the  deep  tides  nmning  beneath.  We  see  also  in 
Asia  a  great  political  awakening,  not  only  in  the  sense  of  a 
demand  for  constitutional  and  representative  government,  though 
that  is  wonderful  enough,  but  ^so  in  the  sense  of  a  great  de- 
velc^ment  of  the  spirit  of  nationalism,  the  Eastern  nations  feel- 
ing at  last  the  deep  influence  of  those  ideals  which  for  two 
generations  have  increasingly  dominated  the  political  moveme^ 
of  tfie  West.  We  see  in  Asia  also  a  great  mqnl  awakening. 
The  political  awakening  is  at  bottom  ethical.  It  is  only  a  sign 
of  the  Asiatic's  awakening  to  manhood  and  the  sense  of  human 
equality.  He  began  with  a  sense  of  lofty  superiority,  tinta 
became  either  abject  or  menial  and  axtgry  and  aloof,  tut  now 
stands  forth  on  his  feet  again,  to  be  treated  and  to  treat  others 
as  men.  The  idea  of  equality  and  brotherhood  on  which  Asia 
now  stands  is  a  distinctly  etfucal  principle.  Indeed,  it  is  a 
purely  religious  principle,  which  East  and  West  alike  owe  to 
the  influence  of  Christianity.  The  East  is  beginning  herself  to 
realise  that  her  awakening  is  an  awakening  to  moral  needs,  and 
that  tlMre  is  only  one  quarter  where  she  can  find  wittt  lim 
requires.  "  It  is  a  question,"  said  Count  Okuma  not  long  ago 
to  young  men  in  Japan,  "  whether  we  have  not  lost  moral  fibre 
as  tlw  result  of  the  many  im>  inflttftneet  to  whidi  we  havt  bees 
subjected.  Development  has  been  intellectttal,  not  moral.  The 
efforts  which  Christians  arc  making  to  supply  to  the  country 


44  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


a  high  standard  of  conduct  are  welcomed  by  all  right-thini  ing 
people.  As  you  read  the  Bible  you  may  think  it  is  antiquated, 
out  of  date.  The  words  it  omtains  mxf  so  appoLT,  but  tiie  noUe 
life  which  it  holds  up  to  admiration  is  something  that  will  never 
be  out  of  date,  however  much  the  world  may  progress.  Live 
and  preach  this  life,  and  you  win  supply  to  the  nation  just 
what  it  needs  at  the  present  juncture."  And  we  see  in  Asia, 
also,  a  great  religious  awakening.  We  see  it  in  the  growth  of  eager, 
living,  aggressive  Christian  churches  among  the  natives  of  these 
lands,  but  even  more  in  the  widespread  groping  and  disctmtent,  ' 
the  decaying  worship  at  idol  shrines,  the  increasing  apology  for 
idolatry,  the  abandonment  of  popular  forms  of  religion  in  the 
interest  of  what  is  eK>teric  or  in  the  interest  of  older  forms 
now  construed  in  Christian  termindogy,  in  the  anxious  search 
for  the  secret  of  power. 

And  this  condition  of  transition  and  opportunity  which  we 
see  in  Asia,  we  see  also  in  Africa  and  Soutii  America.  The 
social,  industrial,  and  political  changes  which  are  passing  over 
Africa,  the  southward  movement  of  Islam,  the  need  of  a  unifying 
power,  the  call  for  life  fr<Mn  dying  peoples,  and  in  South  America 
nations  with  deepening  moral  iweds  because  widiout  God,  with 
a  Church  which  has  given  men  a  <:ross  without  a  Christ,  a 
dead  man  without  a  living  Saviour,  which  has  separated  ethics 
from  religion  and  lost  its  power  to  redeem  life,  and  which  calls 
as  loudly  for  the  vivifying  challenge  of  foreign  missions  as 
Hinduism  or  Islam,  with  a  civilisation  developing  fast  on  a 
basis  of  trade,  but  with  no  adequate  foundation  in  popular  educa- 
tion or  in  religious  principle— the  conditi<ms  of  Africa  and 
South  America  press  upon  the  Christian  Church  with  an  iqipeal 
as  urgent  as  Asia's. 

Men  need  the  Gospel,  and  they  need  it  now.  And  the  nations 
need  the  Gospel,  and  they  need  it  r  .v.  And  the  need  of  men 
and  nations  will  not  delay.  These  conditions  lay  a  great  burden 
upon  us.  This  great  awakening  will  prove  an  evil  and  disaster  if 
it  is  not  moralised,  and  it  can  be  moralised  only  by  Christianity. 
The  pressing  question  is,  shall  we  have  a  renaissance  without 
a  reformation,  an  awakening  of  the  world's  commercial  passion 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  45 

and  its  intellectual  life  without  any  awakening  of  its  soul,  or 
with  its  awakened  soul  unfed?  "  History,"  says  Professor  Lind- 
say, "  knows  nothing  of  revivals  of  moral  living  apart  from  some 
new  religious  impulse.  The  motive  power  has  always  come 
through  leaders  who  have  had  communion  with  the  unseen." 
Has  our  communion  been  real  enough  to  make  us  leaders,  to 
give  us  vision  of  our  opportunity  and  will  to  be  obedient  to 
our  vision  ? 

There  are  those,  however,  who  tell  us  that  we  ought  not  to 
interfere  with  the  religious  ideas  and  institutions  of  the  non- 
Christian  pec^s.  S<Mne  say  that  they  are  not  worth  trying 
to  win  to  Christianity.  I  am  only  quoting  what  we  hear  year 
in  and  year  out.  No  one  who  really  knows  what  Christianity 
is  win  say  this  because  he  knows  that  it  is  of  one  blood  that 
God  has  made  all  men.  No  one  who  knows  history  win  say 
this  because  he  knows  that  it  was  from  such  as  these  that 
Christianity  made  men  out  of  his  ancestors.  No  one  who  knows 
the  non-Christian  races  win  say  this,  because  he  knows  that  Acre 
is  in  them  as  good  material  for  the  Gospel  to  work  upon  as 
there  is  in  the  West,  or  has  ever  been  in  the  world  anywhere. 

Some  say  that  they  stand  in  no  need  of  Christianity.  "I 
have  found  that  they  (the  South  African  natives]  are  highly 
moral,"  says  a  correspondent  who  signs  himself  "  Captain  Late 
South  African  Field  Forces,"  in  the  New  York  Sun  of  July  11, 
1905: 

I  have  invariably  found  them,  in  their  native  state,  living 
hves  that  we  who  call  ourselves  Christians  would  do  weH  to 
Mttern  after.  ...  It  is  a  great  pity  that  in  giving  them  the 
benefit  of  our  knowledge  we  undermine  their  moral  character 
in  the  process.  Were  we  all  good,  and  were  our  teachers  all 
good,  capable  only  of  acts  becoming  their  religion,  all  would  be 
well ;  but  unfortunately,  the  native  copies  the  bad  as  wdl  as  the 
good.  Therefore,  when  our  heathen  brother  accepts  our  religion 
because  he  believes  it  is  good,  inasmuch  as  it  is  ours,  he  also 
learns  to  drink  whiskey  because  he  sees  the  white  man  drink  it; 
he  learns  to  smoke  because  the  white  man  smokes;  he  learns  to 
lie  because  the  white  man  lies  to  him ;  he  learns  to  steal  because 
the  white  man  tteala,  and  he  obeerves  tiiat  tiie  white  aum  hu 


46  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


not  the  same  respect  for  moral  laws  that  he  has  in  his  native 
state,  and  he  feels  his  law  must  be  wrong,  and  copies  the  white 
man's  way. 

I  wish  to  assure  you  that  I  am  not  exaggerating  one  iota  in 
my  expressions  herein.  There  is  no  honest  traveller  (who  is  not 

a  missionary)  who  has  observed  the  results  of  mission  work 
in  South  Africa  or  any  other  country  who  will  not  support  me 
in  my  assertions. 

The  development  of  heathen  and  unchristianised  nations  is 
a  development  that  is  made  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  natives, 
Irat  for  the  benefit  of  civilised  nations,  to  provide  new  fields 
for  the  ever-increasing  surplus  of  population.  The  heathen 
native  who  would  live  on  forever,  if  left  in  his  natural  state, 
is  crushed  under  the  wheels  of  our  ever-increasing  civilisation. 
He  is  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  the  white  man's  advancement 
We  have  no  better  exatiq>le  of  tiiis  than  tiie  North  Ankerican 
Indian. 

The  white  race  and  its  methods  must  rule  the  universe,  but 
let  not  deceive  ourselves  by  attempting  to  believe  that  our 
reli-    i  improves  those  who  have  not  been  bom  to  it 

it  will  seem  strange  that  a  believer  in  religion  could  feel 
that  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  could  destroy  a  race,  but  that 
is  what  I  believe  to  be  true.  Not  that  the  religion  itself  could 
destroy  a  heathen  people,  but  we  have,  unfortunately,  more  of 
bad  to  impart  to  them  than  of  good.  We  are  anxious  to  impart 
the  rulf  of  righteousness,  but,  unfortunately  for  those  whom 
we  w.  .d  teach,  our  lives  are  the  reverse  of  our  doctrine,  and 
our  heathen  brethren  foUow  not  our  doctrine,  but  tiie  fxampig 
of  our  daily  lives. 

I  have  quoted  this  curious  production  because  it  is  fairly 
typical  of  much  popular  talk  about  missions,  and  also  because 
it  is  such  an  odd  mixture  of  error  and  truth.  Would  that  this 
idyllic  picture  of  the  African  native  in  his  estate  untouched  by 
Christian  missionaries  were  true,  and  that  he  stood  in  no  need 
of  our  moral  message,  but  let  us  read  an  extract  from  a  letter 
from  Dr.  Alexander  Brown  of  the  Livingstonia  Mission,  dated 
Serenje,  N.  E.  R.,  14th  September,  1908: 

I  shall  never  forget  the  poor  drunken  creature  of  a  chief 
who  staggered  along  the  path  to  meet  me,  shot  his  arm  up  in 
tiie  air,  and,  by  way  of  |^-momtng  said,  "  Thank  you,  mat* 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  47 


ter  " ;  or  the  drunken  village  I  passed  through,  whose  collections 
of  half-naked  maud!  women  sat  drinking  beer  and  singing. 
Or  another  village  I  approached  on  a  Saturday  night  after  a 
long  day's  tramp,  utterly  fagged  out  A  Saturday  night  at  home 
was  curiously  persistent  in  my  thoughts  as  I  drew  near  it 
There  was  general  shouting  and  singing  going  on,  which  did 
not  cease  as  I  entered  the  village  just  at  dark.  "  What's  the 
noise  about?"  "  Beer  drinking,  sir."  It  is  the  nearest  resem- 
blance to  the  Glasgow  Green  on  a  Saturday  night  I  have  yet 
seen  in  Africa.  There  was  general  restlessness,  excitement,  and 
singing,  or  rather  shouting.  It  kept  up  for  hours,  and  grew 
louder,  and  a  lire  was  set  agoing,  then  a  hut  caught  it,  or  it 
was  done  intentionally,  and  the  lurid  flames  leapt  up  and  lupped 
it  round  and  the  roof  crashed  down,  and  I  thought  there  was 
danger  of  a  general  conflagration.  But  my  boys  laughed  at 
my  fears.  I  went  over  to  it  in  among  the  crowd,  of  whom  two 
drunken  women  were  specially  distinguishing  themselves  by  their 
howling  and  rolling  on  the  ground.  "  What  is  the  matter  with 
these  two,  Yona?"  I  asked.  "One,  sir,"  he  said,  "is  ciying 
for  her  pot,  and  the  other  is  crying  for  her  beer."  I  went  away 
to  my  tent  sick  at  heart 

Surely  there  is  as  great  need  here  for  whatever  the  Gospd 

can  do  as  there  is  in  Glasgow.  And  indeed,  it  is  at  this  pdnt 
that  the  strongest  opposition,  or  at  any  rate,  the  heaviest  lethargy 
is  found,  at  least  in  America.  There  is  so  much  to  be  done  at 
home  that  it  is  wrong  to  divert  Christian  eneigies  into  the  woilc 
of  distant  missions.  Another  newsps^per  corresposdent  puts  the 
objection  forcibly: 

If  India  were  the  only  country  in  the  world  with  souls  in 
peril,  the  case  [for  foreign  missions,  says  he]  would  be  very 
different;  but  with  the  world  as  it  is,  the  game  is  not  wor^ 
the  candle.  One  mission  like  Jerry  McAuley's  in  the  slums  of 
New  York  does  more  lasting  good  and  to  better  subjects  than 
any  dozen  in  India  or  Africa.  All  the  missionaries  in  India 
could  be  located  in  the  three  cities  of  New  York,  Chicago,  and 
St.  Louis,  to  say  nothing  of  others  with  slmns  just  as  Mack, 
and  have  plenty  of  room  for  more.  It  is  not  only  a  waste  of 
good  material  to  send  missionaries  to  the  sticks  and  stones  of 
India,  so  long  as  we  have  such  frightful  fields  for  misttooary 
V  ork  in  our  great  cities,  but  it  is  a  sin  against  siniMrs  worfty 


48  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


of  salvation.  [For  he  has  already  pointed  out  that]  the  high  caste 
Hindu's  mind  is  no  more  capable  of  moulding  itself  to  the 
requirements  of  such  a  religion  as  ours  and  thinking  our  thoughts 
about  it,  than  he  is  to  set  up  for  himself  and  mamtain  over  all 
India  a  rqnddican  government.  Christians  worthy  of  such  a 
Saviour  as  ours  are  made  of  very  different  stuff  from  that  which 
forms  the  natives  of  good  caste.  As  for  those  who  are  so  low 
as  to  have  no  caste  to  lose,  shall  we  seek  to  clothe  asses  with 
immortality?— (W.  T.  Hornaday,  in  the  New  York  Tribune, 
Deconber  2d,  1885.) 

The  Hindu  who  objects  to  Giristian  missions  would  not 
be  likely  to  welcome  this  ally,  but  it  is  the  natural  and  sig- 
nificant fact  that  those  who  have  the  highest  estimate  of  the 
non-Christian  peoples  are  not  the  opponents  but  the  friends  of 
missions. 

Foreign  missions,  however,  do  not  rob  or  weaken  the  forces 
of  the  Church  at  home.  They  multiply  them.  The  home  mission 
work  has  had  most  of  its  roots  in  the  foreign  missioiuury  spirit 
In  America  it  was  foreign  missions  which  originated  the  home 
mission  activities.  To  recall  the  foreign  missionaries  and  curtail 
the  work  would  be  to  paralyse  and  ultimately  to  annihilate  both 
hcmie  missions  and  the  Church  herself.  Her  life  would  dry 
up  and  God  would  cast  her  sapless  boughs  aside  to  be  burned. 
Every  man  sent  abroad  enlists  the  energy  of  ten  men  in  the 
home  work  of  the  Church,  ana  every  dollar  sent  abroad  means 
the  investment  of  ten  in  the  work  of  redeeming  those  lands 
whose  salvation  depends  upon  the  fldeUty  with  which  they  seek 
to  save  others. 

For  these  lands  are  not  keeping  at  harait  tfadr  agencies  of 

evil.  That  is  the  truth  in  the  words  of  the  South  African  captain. 
All  over  the  world  new  hate,  new  lust,  new  vice,  new  wron& 
have  gone  out  from  Christendom.  Are  they  to  be  allowed  to 
go  imchf"''ed?  Are  we  to  evangelise  the  world  with  the  worst 
we  know  nd  not  with  the  best?  Are  our  brothels  and  saloons, 
both  stocked  from  the  West,  to  be  set  up  in  the  East,  and  the 
church,  the  hospital,  and  the  school  to  be  withheld? 

But  it  is  held  by  some  that  the  whole  outward  Movement 
is  wrong.    The  East  should  be  let  alone.    It  has  a  right  to 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  49 


live  its  own  life,  and  to  think  its  own  thoughts,  and  to  pursue 
its  own  andent  way  undisturbed.  Its  dviliastions  mmI  r^fions 
are  its  own,  and  better  adapted  to  it  than  ours  can  be.  The 
whole  outward  movement  of  Christendom  is  an  impertinence 
and  an  invasion.  There  are  some  who  say  this  only  of  our 
religious  mission.  The  commercial  and  poUtical  invasion  tiiey 
justify.  But  on  what  ground?  If  there  is  one  aspect  of  our 
relationship  to  the  non-Christian  nations  which  can  be  singled 
out  and  defended  as  resting  on  superior  grounds  it  is  our  re- 
ligious propaganda.  It  asks  nothing  in  return.  It  seeks  only 
to  give.  It  is  willing  to  be  judged  by  facts.  But  we  do  not 
seek  now  to  separate  it  for  two  reasons:  first,  because  the  rest 
of  our  Wc5tem  projectioa  upon  the  mn-Christian  world  needs, 
as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  t'r  yyjraMsing  influence  of  the 
Christian  mission,  and  secondly,  >  3e  I  beUeve  that  it  is 
not  1^  what  we  call  the  foreign  missionary  movement  alone 
that  God  is  working  upon  the  non-Christian  world.  This  move- 
ment is  not  charged  with  all  the  responsibility  of  Christendom. 
It  is  given,  as  we  shall  see,  a  certain  distinct  work  to  do,  and 
that  work  is  the  fundamental  and  indispensable  work,  but  all 
the  outgoing  of  the  Christian  nations  upon  the  non-Christian 
world  should  bear  upon  it  the  stamp  of  God's  mission,  it  should 
seek  the  good  of  the  world,  it  should  make  its  contribution 
toward  the  building,  here  on  eardi,  of  that  kii^(ckim  in  whidi 
men  shall  serve  God  as  His  sons.  The  missionary  enterprise 
has  always  seen  that  it  was  the  foundation  and  the  custodian  of 
the  jttstifymg  principle  of  intercourse  between  East  and  West 
Now,  at  last,  the  other  forces  entering  into  that  intercourse 
are  realising  it  also.  "  The  change  of  sentiment  in  favour  of 
the  foreign  missionary  in  a  single  generation,"  says  Mr.  Roose- 
vdt,  "  bis  been  ronarkable.  The  whcde  vrodd,  wlndi  is  ra{»dly 
coming  into  neighbourhood  relations,  is  recognising,  as  never 
before,  the  real  needs  of  mankind  and  is  ready  to  approve  and 
stret^fdien  all  the  moral  forces  which  stand  for  the  uf^ft  of 
humanity.  There  must  be  government  for  the  orderly  and  per- 
manent development  of  society.  There  must  be  intercourse 
amoog  peoples  in  the  interests  of  commerce  and  growth.  But, 


50  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


above  all,  there  must  be  moral  power,  established  and  main- 
tained under  the  leadership  of  good  men  and  women.  The  up- 
right and  farseeing  statesman,  the  honest  and  c^wUe  trader, 
and  the  devoted  Christian  missionary  represent  the  combined 
forces  which  are  to  change  the  Africa  of  to-day  into  the  greater 
and  better  Africa  of  the  future.  .  .  .  Beyond  question  of  rule 
or  traffic  are  the  responsibilities  of  America  as  to  the  moral 
uplift  of  the  people  of  Africa.  This  responsibility  is  to  be  met 
in  co-operation  with  the  Christian  forces  of  other  nations."  We 
are  c(mtent  to  take  this  view.  The  prind(4e  of  the  missionary 
enterprise  should  be  the  guiding  and  dominating  element  in  our 
ccmtact  with  all  the  r.on-Christian  nations. 

It  is  futile  to  protest  against  that  contact,  to  say  that  the  non- 
Christian  nations  should  be  left  undisturbed.  That  issue  is 
closed.  They  are  already  disturbed.  The  West  never  had  any 
idea  of  leaving  them  undisturbed.  When  they  would  not  trade 
witii  us  we  fou^^t  with  them  and  compdled  them  to  trade. 
When  their  internal  condition  impeded  trade,  we  interfered  and 
suppressed  their  rebellions,  or  policed  their  politics,  or  bodily  took 
over  their  governments.  The  world  simply  will  not  stop  to  listen 
to  the  man  who  raises  a  vain  protest  against  tiie  whole  genius 
of  history.  The  world  knows  itself-  to  be  one  world,  and  that 
no  part  of  it  is  to  be  alien  and  caviar  to  the  rest,  and  no  part 
of  the  worid  is  more  bent  upon  tiiis  intercourse  tiian  tiie  Eut 
The  non-Christian  nations  are  open  and  will  not  be  closed. 
They  intend  to  have  for  themselves  the  power  which  they  see 
resides  in  civilisation.  The  simple  question  is,  will  we  give 
them  the  good  or  let  them  have  the  evil  only ;  will  wc  givt  tficm 
the  reality,  or  let  them  deceive  themselves  with  the  sham?  Are 
we  to  trade  with  them,  selling  them  things,  and  not  have  with 
them  a  truly  human  intereoarse,  sharing  wMi  them  our  thooghts 
and  sympathies,  and  above  all,  our  hopes,  our  knowledge,  not 
of  the  world  only,  but  also  of  Him  who  made  Um  world  and 
us  men  as  brothers  to  live  in  it? 

And  the  idea  that  the  East  ever  enjoyed  a  fdadd  and  con- 
tented civilisation  of  its  own,  that  it  ever  was  satisfied  with 
its  own  ideas  and  institutions,  or  if  it  was,  should  have  been 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  51 


allowed  to  remain  so,  is  the  delusion  of  those  who  never  knew 
the  East  or  darker  Africa.  Arminius  Vambery  is  a  witness  who 
testifies  of  what  he  knows.  "  During  the  much-extolled  golden 
en  of  the  history  of  Asia,"  says  he  in  "Western  Cttlture  in 
Eastern  Lands,"  "  tyranny  and  depotism  were  the  ruling  elements, 
justice  a  vain  chimera,  everything  depended  on  the  arbitrary  will 
of  the  sovereign,  and  a  prolonged  period  of  rest  and  peace  was 
quite  the  eireeption.  Asiatics,  from  motives  of  vanity  or  inborn 
laziness,  may  condone  these  abnormal  conditions,  but  still  it  re- 
mains our  duty  to  recognise  the  true  state  of  affairs,  and  to 
take  pity  upon  our  poor  oppressed  felkm^nen.  Without  our 
help,  Asia  will  never  rise  above  its  low  levd ;  and  even  granted 
that  the  politics  of  European  powers  are  not  purely  unselfish,  we 
must  nevertheless,  keeping  the  ultimate  object  in  view,  approve 
of  the  interference  of  Exiropt  in  tiie  affiurs  of  tiie  East,  and 
give  the  undertaking  our  hearty  support.  Viewed  in  this  light, 
we  may  be  thankful  that  the  Christian  world  for  300  years  has 
been  unceasing  in  its  interference  in  Asiatic  affairs."  But  once 
again,  we  cannot  but  reflect  how  different  the  whole  history 
would  have  been,  and  upon  what  a  different  world  we  should 
now  look  out,  if,  after  penetrating  the  life  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
or  in  Uie  very  penetratkxi  of  tfiat  life,  Utt  Churdi  had  moved 
eastward  also,  not  in  the  frustrate  mission  of  the  Nestorian 
Church  in  the  seventh  century  only,  but  with  such  a  spirit 
and  such  a  Gospel  as  a  truly  world-compassing  liurch  would 
possess  by  virtue  of  the  confirming  and  purifying  power  of  her 
obedience.  Before  Islam  had  petrified  the  life  of  Western  Asia 
and  set  up  the  Crescent  where  the  full  sun  might  have  shone, 
kmg  agct  before  wrong  and  injustice  in  itttemational  dedii^ 
had  sown  hatred  and  distrust  in  central  and  eastern  Asia,  before 
the  bloody  centuries,  East  and  West,  had  twisted  all  human 
institutions  and  deflected  the  human  spirit,  the  Gospel  of  peace 
and  love  and  life  and  equality  ndi^  hav*  rmitde  tile  world. 
It  can  do  it  still. 

If  it  is  to  do  it,  Christian  nations,  and  the  Western  nation* 
om^  to  be  Chriatiaa  aatkma,  muit  npmm  tht  Go^  in  HnHr 
6mSta§t  wMi  othtr  atlioas.  Wt  camiot  do  ear  ^  to  «W 


52         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


world  by  sending  it  the  Gospel  through  the  professional  mission- 
ary movement  at  the  same  time  that  we  traduce  the  Gospel 
politically.  The  Earl  of  Oarendon  wrote  a  letter  once,  years 
ago  when  he  was  principal  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
to  Great  Britain's  esteemed  friend,  Sekeletu,  Chief  of  the  Moko- 
lolo  in  South  Central  Africa,  and  this  is  what  he  said: 

Ours  is  a  great  commercial  and  Christian  nation,  and  we 
desire  to  live  in  peace  with  all  men.  We  wish  others  to  sleep 
soundly  as  well  as  ourselves;  and  we  hate  the  trade  in  slaves. 
We  are  all  the  children  of  one  common  Father ;  and  the  slave- 
trade  being  hateful  to  Him,  we  ^ve  you  a  proof  of  our  desire 
to  promote  your  prosperity  hy  joining  you  in  the  ^tempt  to 
open  tip  your  country  to  peaceful  commerce.  With  tfiis  view 
the  Queen  -sends  a  small  steam  vessel  to  sail  along  the  river 
Zambesi,  which  you  know  and  agreed  to  be  the  best  pathway 
for  conveying  merchandise,  and  for  the  purpose  of  ex{dorif» 
which  Dr.  Livingstone  left  you  the  last  time.  This  is,  m  lul 
men  know,  "God's  pathway";  and  you  will,  we  trust,  do  all 
that  you  can  to  keep  it  a  free  pathway  for  all  natioas,  and  let 
no  one  be  molested  when  travelling  on  the  river. 

We  are  a  manufacturing  people,  and  make  all  the  articles 
which  you  see  and  hear  of  as  coming  from  the  white  men.  We 
ptn-diase  cotton  and  make  it  into  cloth ;  and  if  you  will  cultivate 
cotton  and  other  articles,  we  are  willing  to  buy  them.  No  matter 
how  much  you  may  produce,  our  people  will  purchase  it  all.  Let 
it  be  known  among  all  your  people,  and  among  all  the  surround- 
ing tribes,  that  the  English  are  the  friends  and  promoters  of 
all  lawful  commerce,  but  that  they  are  the  enemies  of  tiie  dave- 
trade  and  slave-hunting. 

We  assure  you,  your  elders  and  people,  of  our  friendship, 
and  we  hope  that  the  kindly  feelings  which  you  entertain  toward 
the  English  may  be  continued  between  our  children's  children; 
and,  as  we  have  derived  all  our  greatness  from  tiie  Divint 
religion  we  received  from  Heaven,  it  will  be  well  if  you  contidMr 
it  carefully  when  any  of  our  people  talk  to  you  about  it. 

We  hope  that  Her  Majesty's  servants  and  people  will  be 
able  to  visit  you  from  time  to  time  in  order  to  cement  our  friend- 
diip,  and  to  promote  mutual  welfare;  and,  in  tiie  meantime,  we 
recommend  you  to  tiie  protection  of  tlM  Aln^^. 

If  the  West  would  always  speak  in  this  way  to  the  non- 
Oiristian  world,  if  it  would  hate  cpivm  and  robbery  and  im- 


THE  MISSIONARY  DUTY  AND  MOTIVES  S3 


morality  and  plunder  and  dislMmesty  as  much  as  it  hates  slavery, 
if  it  would  practise  the  Christianity  which  its  missionary  repre- 
sentatives preach,  if  it  would  realise  that  its  political  duty  to 
the  non-Christian  world  is  a  missionary  duty  as  truly  as  that 
tiie  Church  is  bound  to  serve  aU  the  world,  the  rest  of  the  ta^ 
would  be  easier.  And  the  Christian  nations  of  the  West  cannot 
recognise  their  responsibility  too  soon.  The  Ufe  of  the  Church 
is  not  more  truly  bound  up  in  her  world-wide  mission  than  the 
Ufe  of  the  state  is  dependent  upon  her  acceptance  of  her  Chris- 
tian duty  as  a  missionary  power.  For  the  foreign  missionary 
principle  is  the  condition  of  life.  "  I  declare  my  conviction," 
•aid  Sir  WilUam  Hunter,  "that  En^^ish  missionary  enterprise 
is  the  highest  modem  expression  of  the  world-wide  national  life 
of  our  race.  I  regard  it  as  the  spiritual  complement  of  Eng- 
land's instinct  for  colonial  expansion  and  imperial  rule,  and  I 
bdieve  that  any  fallii^  off  in  En^and's  miasiomry  effcMrts  wonld 
be  a  sure  sign  of  swiftly  coming  national  decay." 

But  what  we  are  considering  now  is  our  missionary  duty  and 
the  motives  which  will  lift  us  to  discharge  this  duty.  It  is 
true  that  all  Christendom  lies  under  the  missionary  duty,  and 
that  there  are  motives  which  should  lead  the  great  forces  which 
we  call  Christendom  to  fulfil  their  missionary  tasks,  but  the 
central  question  is  tiie  question  of  our  own  personal  actkML 
Have  we  taken  up  our  duty?  If  we  have  not,  what  motives 
will  lead  us  to  do  so?  "  Those  motives,"  replies  the  New  Ymrk 
Bvtnmg  Post,  "  are  now  almost  purely  humanitarian.  The  edu- 
cational,  the  medical,  the  civilising  work  of  missionaries,  which 
in  many  countries  has  undoubtedly  been  wonderfully  beneficent 
and  fruitful,  this  is  the  great  argument  for  missions.  It  is  on 
tills  tiiat  tiie  emphasit  shotdd  be  fnit,  and  we  are  sure  tiiat  It 
would  mean  dollars  in  the  mission  treasuries  if  a  franker  stand 
were  taken  upon  this  rational  and  practicid  basis.  Missions 
would  get  on  better,  as  most  people  do,  by  taking  one  worid  at 
a  time."  The  shortest  and  most  summary  reply  to  this  view 
would  probably  be  found  in  the  missionary  contributions  of  the 
writer  of  this  editorial.  The  humanitarian  motives  have  their 
l^ice,  )kA  tibt  minkMMury  duty  rests  on  dt^tr  lonnditfc)iMi>  iStt 


54  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


missionary  spirit  flows  from  deeper  springs.  The  Church  will 
lift  herself  to  her  missionary  task,  not  when  she  has  learned 
to  forget  the  eternal  worid,  but  when  she  has  learned  to  re- 
member it,  when  she  sees  in  men  not  only  bodies  to  be  healed 
and  minds  to  be  taught,  but  souls  to  be  saved,  the  image  of 
Christ  to  be  wrought  out;  not  when  her  ideal  is  Western  civilisa- 
tion, but  when,  with  an  eye  the  more  humane  for  the  vision, 
she  sees,  though  yet  from  afar,  a  kingdom  of  God  to  come  upon 
the  earth  and  a  thorn-crowned  King  waiting  for  that  kingdom. 
Those  men  will  go  as  missionaries,  and  those  men  wiU  support 
them  as  they  go,  whom  the  love  of  Christ  constrains,  tiM  love 
of  Christ,  and  of  the  souls  for  whom  Christ  died. 


II 

THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS 


II 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS 


HE  missionary  enterprise  is  a  religious  enterprise.  This 


does  not  make  its  problems  simple,  tnit  it  nukes  both 


its  aim  and  its  methods  much  simpler  than  they  would 
otherwise  be.  Of  course,  if  religion  is  conceived  to  take  in 
the  whde  of  human  life  and  to  include  politics  and  industry 
and  all  the  activities  and  relationdiips  of  men,  we  have  not 
made  any  progress  in  defining  the  purpose  of  the  missionary 
movement  by  calling  it  religious.  But  while  the  Christian  con- 
ception of  religion  is  indeed  all-embracing,  it  recognises  a  neces- 
sity of  definition  and  does  not  confuse  the  relations  and  func- 
tions of  family,  state,  and  Church,  and  it  acknowledges  social 
and  national  duties  which  are  missionary  in  character,  and 
which  religion  is  to  inspire,  but  which  it  is  not  the  formal  duty 
of  Christianity  organised  in  the  Church  to  control. 

The  West  and  Western  nations,  which  owe  all  their  good 
to  Christianity,  are  under  a  heavy  debt  to  die  rest  of  tiie  world, 
which  it  is  not  the  function  of  the  Christian  Church  to  discharge. 
It  is  the  function  of  the  Christian  Church  to  inspire  the  Christian 
nations  to  do  justice  and  to  give  help  to  the  non-Christian  toAiom, 
but  there  are  many  great  and  truly  Christian  services  with  which 
the  foreign  missionary  enterprise  is  not  charged.  They  are  to 
be  rendered  through  other  forms  of  international  relationship. 
The  suppression  of  the  slave  trade  was  <me  such  service.  Alas, 
that  in  this  and  in  the  suppression  of  the  trade  in  liquor  and 
opium  and  in  firearms  among  savage  peoples  the  service  of  the 
West  should  consist  so  largely  merely  in  the  discontinuance  of 
its  own  wrongdoing  1  And  even  of  all  the  duties  which  Chris- 
tianity is  to  perform  toward  the  world,  foreign  missiont  art 


17 


58  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


not  the  sole  executive.  Most  of  the  work  of  Christianity  among 
the  non-Christian  natims  is  to  be  done,  not  through  foreign 
missions  at  all,  but  through  the  great  Christian  Churches  which 
are  to  grow  up  indigenously  in  these  nations,  and  something  is 
to  be  left  to  be  done  by  the  great  Churches  of  the  West  in 
friendly  co-operation  with  the  new  Churches,  when  the  dis- 
tinctive need  for  foreign  missions  will  have  wholly  passed  away. 
"  That  Christ's  religion  and  Christian  missions,"  says  a  thought- 
ful missionary  writer,  "have  the  leading  part  to  play  in  the 
aUeviation  of  woes  and  sufferings,  in  the  removal  of  human 
ills  and  wrongs,  in  the  social  progress  of  the  world,  can  admit 
of  no  doubt  whatever."  Yes,  but  the  leadership  of  Christ's 
religion  is  permanent  and  complete,  and  the  leadership  of  Chris- 
tion  missions  is  temporary  and  partial.  Christ's  religion  and 
Christian  missions  are  not  separate  and  co-ordinate  forces.  Tha 
one  force  is  Christ's  religion.  Christian  missions  are  merely 
the  agency  by  which  that  religion  makes  its  first  and  punat 
impact  upon  the  world.  When  the  religion  has  struck  in  its 
roots,  it  will  do  its  work  and  dispense  with  this  agency. 

Two  further  distinctions  will  bring  us  still  closer  to  a  true 
definition  of  the  aim  of  foreign  missions.  First,  the  aim  is  not 
to  be  confounded  with  the  results.  Many  things  result  which 
are  not  primarily  aimed  at.  The  Levant  is  astir  to-day,  and  the 
Turkish  Empire  and  the  Caliphate  have  been  shaken;  the  Iwa- 
kura  Embassy  went  forth  from  Japan  and  came  back  with  fixed 
and  clarified  purposes  of  national  transformation;  the  Chinese 
treaties  of  1858  opened  the  Empire  to  Christianity  and  author- 
ised for  the  Chinese  people  what  had  been  a  religio  illicita; 
great  wrongs  which  had  become  imbedded  in  the  religions  of 
India  have  died,  and  great  movements  of  reform  in  Hinduism 
have  come  to  life,— all  these  things  not  because  the  missionaries 
made  them  their  aim,  but  as  the  inevitable  result  of  the  work 
they  were  doing  in  seeking  to  achieve  that  which  was  their 
dm.  If  they  had  aimed  at  some  of  these  things,  they  would 
surely  have  missed  them.  How  long  would  a  Christian  minion 
have  been  tolerated  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  which  had  proclaimed 
M  its  aim  the  dissolution  of  Turkish  absolutism?  He  that  would 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS 


seek  to  save  his  life  shall  lose  it  That  law  is  of  wide  applica- 
tkrn  in  the  life  and  work  of  men.  The  work  of  foreign  missions 
in  planting  the  divine  life  in  the  dead  nations  is  rekasing  cnor- 
gics  whose  consequences  no  man  can  foretell.  Immense  moral, 
social,  and  political  effects  are  inevitable,  but  these  are  not  the 
aim  of  missions.  They  are  its  accessory  results.  "  The  mission 
that  is  to  prove  of  permanent  value,"  says  a  religious  journal, 
"must  aim  at  a  thorough  reconstruction  of  the  whole  social 
fabric."  I  think  not.  Christianity  will  instinctively  destroy  all 
that  is  evil  in  any  society,  and  its  end  will  be  thorough  recon- 
struction of  the  whole  social  fabric.  But  that  is  the  far-off, 
ultimate  issue  of  missions,  not  their  immediate  aim.  This 
journal's  view  confuses  the  work  of  missions  with  the  whole  wotic 
of  Christianity.  The  work  of  missions  will  be  done  long  before 
these  results  have  been  attained,  and  the  foreign  nusaionary 
enterprise  must  refuse  to  accept  this  responsibility. 

In  tbt  second  place,  the  aim  of  missions  is  not  to  be  can- 
founded  with  the  means  or  methods  employed  for  its  realisation. 
We  often  start  out  to  use  a  method  to  an  end  or  to  accomplish 
an  accepted  aim,  but  tiie  method  becomes  itself  the  end  and 
concnls  the  real  aim.  The  aim  may  be  difficult  and  tiw  OMidiod 
easy,  those  for  whom  we  work  may  be  averse  to  our  end  but 
eager  for  our  agency,  the  means  employed  may  be  in  them- 
selves beneficent;  in  such  circumstances  we  easily  content  our- 
selves with  the  prosecution  of  our  methods,  allowing  our  aim 
to  fall  into  the  background  or  to  await  a  more  favourable  time. 
There  may  often  be  no  other  course  than  this  optn  to  us.  In 
such  case,  we  need  only  to  make  sure  that  the  aim  is  still  there, 
that  the  methods  are  kept  true  to  it,  and  that  we  ourselves  have 
not  lost  our  loyalty  but  are  only  waiting  for  the  first  suitable 
hour.  But  we  must  not  be  as  tlut  ambassador  who  was  sent  to 
negotiate  a  treaty  of  union  and  bidden  to  use  every  friendly 
resource,  and  who  so  lost  himself  amid  his  resources  that  he 
came  bade  with  good-will,  but  with  no  more.  The  maintenance 
of  hospitals  and  schools  is  not  the  aim  of  Christian  missions. 
They  are  the  methods  by  which  it  is  to  achieve  the  real  end. 
Preaching  is  not  the  supreme  aim  of  the  missionary.  That, 


6o         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


too,  is  simply  a  method,  and  a  man  may  lose  himself  and  his 
aim  in  that  method  as  easily  as  in  any  other. 

What,  then,  is  the  supreme  and  determining  aim  of  fore^ 
missions?  It  is  something  religious,  and  it  is  something  as  near 
the  vital  and  living  core  of  religion  as  can  possibly  be.  It 
must  include  that  and  as  little  beside  that  as  is  possible.  It 
is  to  make  Christ  known  to  the  world  with  a  view  to  real  results, 
for  time,  as  well  as  for  eternity,  and  to  the  incorporation  of 
these  results  in  living  national  character.  In  other  words,  the 
aim  of  missions  includes  three  things, — first,  the  proclamation 
of  Christ ;  second,  the  salvaticm  of  men,  and  third,  the  naturalisa- 
tion of  Christianity. 

Let  us  consider  each  of  these.  First,  it  is  the  aim  of  missions 
to  malre  Jesus  Christ  known  to  the  world.  Some  will  say  that 
diis  is  simple  enough.  Our  business  is  to  preach  the  Gospel. 
Yes,  but  what  is  the  Gospel  that  is  to  be  preached,  and  what 
is  it  to  preach  it  ?  The  problem  is  by  no  means  as  simple  as  it 
appears.  We  think  we  know  what  the  Gospel  was  which  Paul 
preached  and  which  constituted  the  message  of  the  Church  in 
tiie  missiiKiary  expansion  of  the  first  two  centuries.  Hamadc 
is  sure  that  the  one  living  God,  as  Creator,  Jesus  the  Saviour, 
the  resurrection  and  self-control  formed  the  four  conspicuous 
features  in  the  new  propaganda.  "  Along  with  this,  the  story 
of  Jesus  must  have  been  briefly  onnmunicated  (in  the  statemeirts 
of  Christology),  whilst  the  resurrection  was  generally  defined  as 
the  resurrection  of  the  flesh,  and  self-control  identified  with 
social  purity,  and  then  extended  to  include  renunciation  of  the 
world  and  mortification  of  the  flesh." — (Harnack,  "  Expansion 
of  Christianity,"  Vol.  I,  p.  iii.)  The  facts  of  Christianity  re- 
main what  they  were,  and  men  can  state  them,  but  is  that 
pleaching  the  Gospel,  is  that  making  Christ  lawwn?  The 
problem  is  not  so  easy.  Those  who  have  tried  most  earnestly 
best  realise  the  difliculties.  "  The  moment  I  could  speak  the 
language,"  says  an  ingenious  missionary  to  Mdiammedans,  "  and 
began  to  see  something  of  the  people,  man  after  man  would  come 
to  me,  all  with  the  same  question,  '  We  have  heard  a  gfat 
deal,  a  great  deal  of  Christian  teaching,  and  a  great  deal  aliout 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  61 

Jesus  Christ,  but  Sahib,  maUab  ekistf  whkh  nuty  be  trans- 
lated, •  What  is  the  point  of  it  all? '  "—(Malcolm,  "  Five  Years 
in  a  Persian  Town,"  p.  202.)  If  any  one  should  say  that  making 
Christ  known  is  simply  slewing  to  others  the  beauty  of  His 
character,  that  is  no  simple  task.  The  late  Mr.  A.  G.  Jones, 
of  the  English  Baptist  Mission  in  Shantung,  one  of  the  freshest 
and  most  vigorous  minds  in  China,  said  that  even  that  task 
baffled  him,  and  Mr.  Townsend  said  some  years  ago  of  India : 

The  character  of  Christ  is  not,  I  am  convinced,  as  acceptable 
to  Indians  as  it  is  to  the  northern  races.  It  is  not  so  completely 
their  ideal,  because  it  is  not  so  visibly  supernatural,  so  completely 
beyond  any  point  which  they  can,  unassisted  by  divine  grace, 
hope  to  attain.  The  qualities  which  seemed  to  the  warriors  of 
Qovis  so  magnificently  divine,  the  self-sacrifice,  the  self-denial, 
the  resignation,  the  sweet  humility,  are  precisely  the  qualities  the 
germs  of  which  exist  in  the  Hindu.  He  seeks,  like  every  other 
man,  the  complement  of  himself,  and  not  himself  again,  and 
stands  before  Christ  at  first  comparatively  unattracted.  The  ideal 
in  his  mind  is  as  separate  as  was  the  ideal  in  the  Jews'  mind 
of  their  expected  Messiah,  and  though  the  ideals  of  Jew  aad 
Hindu  are  different,  the  effect  is  in  both  cases  the  same— a 
passive,  dull  repulsion,  scarcely  to  be  overcome  save  by  the 
special  grace  of  God.  I  never  talked  frankly  with  a  Hindu 
in  whom  I  did  not  detect  this  feeling  to  be  one  inner  cause  of 
his  rejection  of  Christianity.  He  did  not  want  that  particular 
suUimity  of  character,  but  another,  something  more  of  the  sov- 
ereign aad  legislator. 

The  character  of  Christ  wields  a  far  greater  attraction  in 
India  to-day.  But  prcachi^  die  Gospel,  making  Christ  known, 
is  something  far  more  than  describing  to  men  the  beauty  of  His 
character,  '^■.t  just  what  it  is  and  how  it  can  be  done  in  the 
truest  and  most  effective  way  are  questions  so  deep  that  they 
lift  the  missionary  enterprise  to  a  level  of  its  own.  Mr.  Jones 
keenly  felt,  as  all  true  missionaries  feel  ae  burden  of  these 
questions. 

There  are  [said  he]  those  who  believe  the  true  course  is, 
without  further  preparation,  to  proclaim  and  declare  Christ,  His 
deity,  and  His  saving  work  of  atonement,  firrt  aad  ahrsyt,  to 


6a         CHRISTIANITY  AN»  THE  NATION^i 


every  creature,  irrespective  ^  the  hearer's  state  of  ht  -t,  as 
the  true  sequence  of  truth,  as  the  Scriptural,  the  speedie:>t,  and 
most  effective  way.    Now  this  has  Men  doine  on  a  vast  scale 

in  India  and  China,  with  a  sincerity,  perseverance,  ind  zeal  that 
admits  of  no  question;  by  men,  too,  that  were  b'  h  pious  and 
spiritual,  an  l  ii'  a  way  that  comf>€ls  the  f  -  yhest  imiration. 
The  one  fact,  however,  that  voices  itself  above  every  or'  tr.  is 
the  utter  disproportion  of  the  esults  to  the  efforts,  and  it  is 
this  whirii  u  oiite  both  raises  ubts  and  corToels  investigation 
as  to  the  corr.'ctness  of  this  principle  of  v  king.  I  believe 
with  all  'I  Ii'  in  m  thi  prcaci  ing  of  Jc.>.  Christ  and  his 
atonement  as  the  very  an»l  essential  truth  of  '  od;  but  I  believe, 
also,  it  is  utterly  uself^>->,  profitless,  and  meaningles,i  unless  the 
existence  of  G')d,  the  rule  -  f  God,  the  reality  of  the  after-life, 
and  the  certainty  of  a  future  retribution  b-^,  to  some  extent, 
believed  by  the  inquiring'  oul,  'f  indeed  in  any  sense  inquiring 
at  all.  The  efficacy  of  t)-  Gospei  is  not  like  tl.e  chemical  efficacy 
of  some  substances  on  c  uier  substance*^  as  the  efficacy  of  spells, 
or  passwords,  but  lies  m  its  spirituH=  adantation  for  bringing 
the  soul  to  be  in  an  attitude  or  harn^^  .ly  »<.  th  (jod,  i^  that  God 
be  known  and  that  harmony  dtsir'd  .  .  .  The  '  estion  ii 
one  which  the  increa  'ng  experience  >  the  Church  u.  her  mis- 
sionary work  among  cultuf^d  nation'-  inert;  -ingly  calls  attc  tion 
to,  i.e.,  the  true  prin<'iple-  and  right  method  of  evangelising  the 
heathen.  Faith  in  Jesus  is  the  best  <■  all  evidence  when  a  -  an 
has  got  it,  but  as  to  how  he  ^  to  b<  lelped  to  pet  it,  and  )ow 
he  is  not  to  be  hindered  m  getting  it,  this  is  my  one  '  ^y'  ',n- 
tribution.  Judge  not  according  to  the  appearance  or  the  1  ter, 
but  judge  righteous  juc%nient.  Idols  are  worship:  id  ilse 
gods  trusted,  after  a  certain  fashion,  and  hold  tbf 
do  not  wart  Christ  worsh  {.  '  od  .  r  trusted  in  i  w? 
collaterally  with  an  internal  piocoss  of  a  spiritu;  rh. 
That  process  selric-n  results  fron^  mere  asserti<»ts  de  . 
be  as  real  rays  of  light  entering  into  the  ve^  centr  >i  d  tiu 
heart  and  maJcing  the  person  and  -  <jwer  of  ^esus  Christ  a  liv  ig 
reality  to  the  soul.  I  do  not  i  r  a  mnni*?nt  believe  that  ihe 
ordinary  view,  that  Christianity  tails  rrifr,rly  or  'p  y  for  want 
of  faith,  or  because  tiie  hearers  are  so  evil,  is  the  ri^lt  one. 
Nay,  it  often  fails,  even  under  fair  conditions,  bee  >e  we  so 
mar  it  in  the  preaching,  and  becaase  we  so  fail  to  c  nonstrate 
its  spirit  awi  its  p&wtr. 

What  Mr.  Jones,  whost  tr  .  death  was  m  untold  loss 
to  missioiis  in  China,  has  said  ot  coadteions  oa  tl  e  mi  'km  6  Id 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  63 

is  as  true  of  conditions  at  home.  The  ruit,  indeed,  is  greater 
there  duui  -  e,  th  JUgh  with  us  the  difficulties  are  infinitely 
IMS,  for  have  the  ideas  to  boild  upwi.  He  forgets,  or  in 
his  stern  amilit  ignores,  the  effectiveness  with  which  even  our 
stumbling  clT  rts  do  make  Christ  known.  He  passes  over  the 
great  fact  of  lift  that  Christ  is  each  man's  head  and  will  find 
His  way  to  Inm.  But  '  <  words  express  clearly  the  difficulty 
and  necessity  f  '  th  primary  misskmary  tam,  which  is  to 
jring  il..  living  (       :  hc»me  to  men. 

In  the  secoj     Aact.    m  aim  is  to  do  this    ith  a  view  to 
suits,  n  t  only       he      eral  acquaintance  of  ti..  nations  with 
iC  Christ!.      '•       11       .  in  t     salvation  of  individual  men. 
The  mis^ir  i.j,    .^venn     oiay  n    absolve  itself  from  responsi- 
b&iy  hei       '  may  not  say,  "  Our  aim  is  to  make  Christ  known, 
w  «tl»r  ■       w-l  hear  or  not.    The  result"^  are  with  God." 

'vt  h  t  amrst,  a  measure  of  truth  in  this  view,  but  on  the 
ott»rr  »  if  there  are  no  results,  how  can  we  be  sure  that 
we  ia  .i,.,ae  Christ  known?  We  believe  that  everywhere  there 
are  th  e  whom  in  His  exquisite  Oriental  ^h  our  Lord 
called  is  sheep,  who,  when  they  hear  their  ^pherd's  voice, 
will  f  w  Him.  If  none  respond,  how  can  he  sure  that 
r  m  h    -d?   We  are  to  aim  at  and  woi  .v       the  actual 

m  of  men,  and  not  be  content  with  w  s-bearing, 
s  of  result  or  seed-sowing  for  future  harvest.   The  late 
Jlinwood,  who  represented  a  view  of  nusnonary  eSort 
wi   h  gave  full  allowance  to  the  wider  aspects  of  the  work 
a?  .hey  are  usually  called,  toward  the  close  of  his  life  felt  the 
importaiice  of  this  primary  work  of  missions  as  his  chief  burden. 

Another  tfiing  [he  saidj  vhich  I  would  place  in  the  very 
ont  among  the  impressions  which  have  grown  upon  my 
nnd  is  this:  that  the  importance  of  our  work,  whether  in 
le  actual  contact  of  the  missionary  on  the  field  or  the  planning 
^  .iimulus  of  the  work  here  at  home,  should  be  the  conversion 
of  men.   Do  you  ask  why  I  utter  such  a  truism  as  this?  I 
do  It  because  I  think  that  too  often  a  feeling  has  grown  up 
that  our  work  is  to  prepare  the  way  for  somebody  hereafter 
to  reap  the  harvest.   There  is  no  phrase  as  much  abased  at 
that  of  "  seed-sowtng."  There  is  a  k^timate  towiiv  of  the 


64         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


seed,  but  neither  the  phrase  nor  the  idea  should  be  nude  a 
subterfuge  or  an  excuse  for  a  limp  and  self-contented  inefficiency. 
A  missionary  in  Benares  belonging  to  one  of  the  British  Societies 
once  told  me  that  he  had  preached  die  Gospel  in  tint  city  ten 
years,  but  he  had  never,  so  far  as  he  knew,  been  the  means 
of  any  conversion,  and  when  I  showed  some  surprise  at  his 
apparent  freedom  from  concern,  he  said  that  it  was  his  business 
to  preach  the  Word, — ^he  really  had  nothing  to  do  with  results. 
Quite  different  was  the  feeling  of  Mr.  Hu(Mon  Taylor,  when  in 
the  great  missionary  conference  of  1900  he  urged  the  mission- 
aries to  aim  at  the  conversion  of  men  at  once,  even  though  it 
might  be  the  first  and  possibly  the  only  opportunity,  and  he  gave 
instances  in  which  the  work  of  the  Spirit  had  thus  directly  owned 
the  message  and  made  it  effectual.  As  we  turn  back  to  tiie 
New  Testament,  I  think  we  find  that  that  was  very  much  the  way 
in  which  believers  were  expected  to  respond  when  Peter  and 
John  and  Stephen  and  Paul  proclaimed  to  them  the  message 
of  salvation.  I  once  heard  the  secretarv  of  a  misstonary  Board 
say  duit  abcmt  the  least  concern  of  all  to  the  misstonary  was 
the  question  of  numbers  received  into  the  Church.  His  meaning 
was  good,  but  it  was  a  careless  and  one-sided  statement.  It 
must  be  admitted  that  sometimes  a  ereat  and  exclusive  emphasis 
is  put  upon  the  statistics  of  church  membership.  But  msscnt 
from  this  view  has,  I  think,  been  carried  too  far  and  indicates 
a  lack  of  that  travail  for  souls  of  which  Paul  speaks.  I  am 
fully  persuaded  that  the  unit  of  measurement  in  preaching  the 
GoqM  of  recmciUatioa  is  tiw  indivtdtMl  souL 

Was  this  not  what  Jesus  sought  when  He  came  here  to 
win  men?  Was  this  not  what  He  charged  His  disciples  to 
do,  namely,  to  make  disciples  of  others,  even  of  all  nations? 
Was  not  this  what  Paul  sought,  the  persuasion  of  men  to  believ* 
in  Christ  and  to  follow  Him  in  His  Church  ?  I  certainly  believe 
that  this  is  the  aim  of  foreign  missions  and  of  every  agency  em- 
ptoyed  by  foreign  missions.  I  know  that  tiiere  are  sohm  who  hold 
a  different  viev.  One  of  the  most  honoured  and  distinguished 
leaders  in  educational  work  on  the  foreign  field  set  forth  a  dif- 
ferent "iew  some  years  ago  in  a  lecture  to  his  students  at  Madras. 
"  We  have  institutkms  for  educttkm  MtMnid  ut,"  sakl  Dr.  IfiBtr, 
"  which  deliberately  decline  to  turn  the  thoughts  of  those  trained 
in  them  toward  every  divine  purpose, — which  are  not  intended 
to  suggest  any  thoughts  beyond  tliOM  tiiat  bckmg  to  the  brief 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS 


lives  of  individual  men  on  earth.  We  have  other  institutions 
which,  working  rather  on  the  Greek  and  Roman  ideal  than  on 
Girist's,  make  it  their  one  ovenrutering  aim  to  bring  men  over 
from  other  schemes  of  life,  and  to  place  them  within  the  Chris* 
tian  fold.  With  neither  of  these  classes  of  schools  and  colleges 
have  I  any  quarrel.  .  .  .  But  you,  amid  such  imperfection  in 
those  who  trained  you  and  yet  not  whdly  without  success,  have 
been  trained  differently.  ...  To  you, — if  you  have  at  all  re- 
ceived the  Spirit  of  your  training— to  you  it  is  a  familiar  thought, 
nay,  it  Is  the  guiding  thought  of  all,  that  while  God's  moral 
work,  like  all  His  works,  is  organised  around  a  centre,  it  it 
yet  something  wider  far  than  any  Church  or  system  or  race, 
nay,  that  it  embraces  every  land  and  age,  and  extends  to  every 
member  of  human  family."  These  words  raise  a  great  qties- 
tion  ind  embody  truth,  and,  I  think,  also  some  error.  I  quote 
them  now  as  setting  forth  an  aim  which  we  do  not  regard  as 
the  great  aim  of  missions,  and  dismissing  as  Greek  and  Roman, 
rather  than  Christian,  what  we  do  regard  as  tin  sttprtme  aim 
?nd  chief  business  of  the  missionary  enterprise,  namely,  making 
Christ  known  to  individual  men  with  a  view  to  their  open  personal 
acceptance  of  Hnn  at  their  only  Lord  and  Saviour.  This  aim 
is  sometimes  condemned  by  the  supposedly  opprobrious  term  of 
proselytising.  But  what  is  meant  by  proselytising?  If  it  means 
to  take  a  good  follower  of  one  religion  and  to  make  him  into 
a  bad  f^wer  of  another,  then  it  goca  witiiout  layinf  that  it 
is  not  worth  while.  But  if  to  win  a  man  to  Christ,  to  take 
an  adherent  of  any  other  religion  or  a  man  of  no  religion  and 
mak*  Ixbn  a  true  ditcifde  of  Christ— if  that  be  futMelytising,  then 
that,  at  we  understand  it,  it  exactly  what  tint  woric  of  forciga 
mistions  aims  to  do. 

This  also,  as  those  who  have  tried  it  know  best,  is  no  easy 
task.  Mmt  Morrison  wrocvht  seven  yourt  befoHre  his  firtt 
convert  was  won.  To  make  Christ  known  in  a  way  that  satisfies 
the  heart  and  mind  of  the  preacher  is  a  great  achievement. 
To  make  Christ  known  in  a  way  that  emivinces  the  heart  and 
mind  and  will  of  the  hearer  is  a  greater  one.  Only  the  £viat 
%>irit.  Who  we  believe  it  at  work  in  the  eaterpritt»  am  eiiel 


I 


66         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


either.  He  can  effect  and  is  daily  effecting  both.  For  the  work 
is  simpler,  as  well  as  more  difficult,  than  it  appears.  In  many 
ways,  by  many  doors,  on  many  angles  of  the  infinite  and  ade- 
quate truth  of  God  in  Christ  is  the  Spirit  through  men  reaching 
men  and  making  them  the  open  and  fearless  foUowers  of  the 
Saviour. 

The  third  element  of  the  missionary  aim  is  the  naturalisatton 
of  Christianity  in  the  non-Christian  lands.  Its  aim  is  not  to 
impose  our  Western  systeris  of  theology  or  our  Western  forms 
of  Church  government  upon  the  converts  who  may  be  gathered 
upon  the  mission  field.  It  is  to  make  Christ  known  to  these 
peoples,  to  bring  together  those  who  accept  him,  and  to  estab- 
lish them  in  indigenous  organisations  which  will  take  their 
own  forms  and  comt  to  thdr  own  statements  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity,  as  wrought  out  in  their  own  study  of  the  Bible 
and  their  own  Christian  experience.  It  is  not  the  aim  of  missions 
to  denationalise  those  who  become  Christian  disciples,  to  inter- 
fere with  styles  of  dress  or  modes  of  life,  to  give  Occident^ 
institutions  to  them  or  to  Westernise  their  minds  or  hearts. 
It  is  their  aim  to  carry  to  all  the  world  the  universal  elements 
of  tfw  one  adequate  religkxi,  the  knowledge  of  tiie  one  Savksur 
of  men,  and  to  secure  that  permanent  and  effective  perpetuaticm 
and  that  adequate  appiehension  of  the  truth  by  men  which  are 
possible  only  in  Hbx  corporate  asiwdation  of  the  Church,  one 
over  all  the  eardi,  md  ytt  adapted  to  the  genius  and  needs  of 
each  people. 

It  is  in  this  adaptation  o[  her  missions  to  national  conditions 
tint  the  Rooum  Catholic  Churdi  is  supposed  to  have  been  qie> 
cially  wise.  The  supposition  is  erroneous.  The  great  mistakt 
of  the  Roman  Church  has  been  in  the  iron  imposition  of  her 
forms,  botii  of  ^Ktrine  and  of  institution,  absorbing  much  evil, 
it  is  true,  in  such  adaptation  as  she  has  permitted,  but  cruMi^ 
out  spontaneity  and  life,  and  drawing  everythinp  under  an  essen- 
tiaUy  alien  rule.  "It  presents,"  says  Professor  Moore,  "the 
^i^iular  contrast  of  behtg  the  faith  which  professw  to  differ 
most  absolutely  from  all  others,  yet  visibly  differing  very  ttttft 
from  the  old  faiths  of  its  converts,  and  giving  them  but  a  eon- 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS 


67 


fused  sense  of  anything  beyond  an  external  allegiance  to  a  punc- 
tilious routine  for  which  it  stands.  The  Roman  Church,  there- 
fore, represents  the  phenomenon  of  die  mturaltsatkm  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  Orient  in  a  form  in  which  it  is  only  too  easy  to 
say  that,  if  this  is  what  is  meant  by  naturalisation  of  Christianity, 
then  the  less  we  have  to  do  with  it  the  better." — (E.  C.  Moobe, 
in  the  Harvard  Theological  Review,  July,  p.  273.)  Cath- 
olic writers  admit  the  fact  of  their  alien  ideals.  "Even  at 
Peking,"  writes  one  of  them,  "where  there  are  old  Christian 
families  of  three  hundred  years'  standing,  the  Chinese  priests 
require  the  support  of  a  European  missionary.  .  .  .  The  mis- 
sionaries are  of  opinion  that  it  is  only  after  four  generations  that 
the  Chinese  can  be  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Catholic  faith.  For  this  reasmi,  only  Chinamen  whose  families 
have  been  Catholics  for  two  or  three  centuries  are  admitted  to 
the  priesthood.  Converts  of  a  recent  date  are  never  accepted 
witiMMtt  a  special  dispensation,  which  is  seldom  applied  for,  and 
which  is  still  more  seldom  granted."— (Kelly,  "  Another  China," 
p.  74.)  The  Roman  Catholic  aim,  in  other  words,  is  the  im- 
portation of  a  foreign  ecclesiastical  system.  In  South  America 
men  win  tell  yoa  frankly  that  the  greatest  evils  which  ever 
befdl  the  continent  were  its  discovery  by  Spaniards  and  the 
iinpodtioa  of  an  alien  religious  institution  which  was  iwt  a 
fountain  of  indigenous  life. 

Now  it  is  charged  against  Protestant  missicms  that  tticy  have 
made  in  principle  the  same  mistake  as  Roman  Catholics,  and 
have  simply  carried  out  into  the  non-Christian  nations  a  Western 
set  of  ideals,  body  of  social  usagts.  ami  form  of  religious  or- 
ganisation. Let  us  listen  to  the  diarget.  "  The  Christian  re- 
ligion," says  Arminius  Vambery,  "may  in  the  beginning  have 
borne  many  traces  of  Asiaticism ;  but  in  its  further  development 
it  has  decidedly  adapted  itself  to  Western  views;  and  as  an 
amalgamation  of  Aryan  and  Semitic  ideas,  as  Seeley  expresses 
it,  has  become  a  European  religion  par  excellence.  As  such, 
it  Is  a  devclopnmrt  foreign  to  Asiatic  nsted;  a  faith  which 
does  not  coincide  with  his  tastes  and  conception  of  life,  ai^ 
a:,  anonymout  author  in  tht  CoiHemporary  lUvim  it  abcmt  ri^ 


68  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


when  he  concludes  his  instructive  article  entitled  '  Islam  and 
Christianity  in  India,'  with  the  remark :  '  Mohammedan  prosely- 
tism  succeeds  in  India  because  it  leaves  its  converts  Asiatics 
still.  Christian  proselytisn:  fails  in  India  because  it  strives  to 
make  of  its  converts  English  middle-class  men.  That  is  the 
truth  in  a  nutshell,  whether  we  choose  to  accept  it  or  not.'  "— 
(Vambbby,  "Western  Culture  in  Eastern  Lands,"  Ch.  VIII.) 
Hear,  also,  Mr.  Townsend,  who  is  the  anonymous  writer  whtmi 
Mr.  Vambery  quotes : 

The  missionaries  are  Europeans  [he  says]  divided  from  the 
people  by  a  barrier  as  strong  as  that  which  separates  a  Chinaman 
from  a  Londoner,  by  race,  by  colour,  by  dress,  by  incuraUe  dif- 
ferences of  thought,  of  habit,  of  taste,  and  of  language.  The 
last  named  the  missionary  sometimes,  though  by  no  means  always, 
overoHnes,  but  the  remaining  barriers  he  cannot  overcome,  for 
thqr  are  rooted  in  his  very  nature,  and  he  does  not  try.  He  never 
becomes  an  Indian,  or  anything  which  an  Indian  could  mistake 
for  himself;  the  influence  of  civilisation  is  too  strong  for  him. 
He  cannot  help  desiring  ihat  his  flock  should  become  "  civilised  " 
as  well  as  Christians;  he  understands  no  civilisation  not  Euro- 
pean, and  by  unwearied  admonition,  bv  governing,  by  teaching, 
by  setting  up  all  manner  of  useful  industries,  he  tries  to  bring 
them  up  to  his  narrow  ideal.  That  is,  he  becomes  a  pastor  on 
the  best  English  model ;  part  preacher,  part  schoolmf.ster,  part 
ruler ;  always  doing  his  best,  always  more  or  less  successful,  but 
always  with  an  eye  to  a  false  end — the  Europeanisation  of  the 
Asiatic — and  always  acting  through  the  false  method  of  devel(^ 
ing  the  desire  of  imitation.  There  is  the  curse  of  the  whole 
system,  whether  of  missionary  work  or  of  education  in  India. 
"tht  missionary,  like  the  educationist,  cannot  resist  the  desire 
to  make  his  pupils  English,  to  teach  them  English  literature, 
English  science,  English  knowledge ;  often — as  in  the  case  of  the 
vast  Scotch  missionary  colleges,  establishments  as  large  as  uni- 
versities, and  as  successful  in  teaching — through  the  medium 
of  English  alone.  He  wants  to  saturate  Easterns  with  the  West 
The  result  is  that  the  missionary  becomes  an  excellent  pastor 
or  an  efficient  schoolmaster  instead  of  a  proselytiser,  and  that 
his  converts  or  their  children  or  the  thousands  of  pagan  lads 
he  teaches  become  in  exact  proportion  to  his  success  a  hybrid 
caste,  not  quite  European,  not  quite  Indian,  with  the  originality 
Idlled  out  of  them,  with  idf-reiuuiGe  weakened,  with  all  tomia^ 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  69 


aspirations  wrenched  violently  in  a  direction  which  is  not  their 
own.  It  is  as  if  Englishmen  were  trained  by  Chinamen  to  be- 
come not  only  Buddhists,  but  Chinese.  The  first  and  most 
visiUe  result  is  a  multiplication  of  Indians  who  know  English, 
but  are  not  English,  either  in  intellectual  ways  or  in  morals ;  and 
the  second  is  that,  after  eighty  years  of  effort,  no  great  native 
missionary  has  arisen,  that  no  great  Indian  Church  has  developed 
itself  on  lines  of  its  own,  and  that  the  ablest  missionaries  say 
sorrowfully  that  white  supervision  is  still  needed,  and  that  if 
they  all  retir.  .'^.  the  work  might  even  now  be  undone.  .  .  . 
Christianity  in  a  new  people  must  develop  civilisation  for 
itself,  not  be  smothered  by  it,  still  less  be  exhausted  in  the  im- 
possible effort  to  accrete  to  itself  a  civilisation  from  the  outside. 
Natives  of  India,  when  they  are  Christians,  will  be  and  oti^t 
to  be  Asiatics  still — that  is,  as  unlike  English  rectors  or  English 
dissenting  ministers  as  it  is  possible  for  men  of  the  same  creed 
to  be,  and  the  effort  to  squeeze  them  into  those  moulds  not  only 
wastes  power,  but  destroys  the  vitality  of  the  original  material. 

These  are  faithful  words,  and  we  are  saying  them  ourselves. 
"  One  going  into  a  Hindu  or  Chinese  Christian  Church,"  says 
Professor  Moore  on  his  return  from  his  missionary  visitation, 
"  is  positively  astounded  to  see  how  completely  some  of  the  con- 
verts represent,  seemingly  to  tiie  minutest  detail,  the  type  witii 
which  we  are  familiar  in  the  devout  life  of  our  Churches  here 
at  home.  .  .  .  Their  Christianity,  real  as  it  is,  is  still  exotic. 
.  .  .  Christianity  is  not  yet  naturalised.  Such  converts  ex- 
plain how  their  compatriots  may  comt  to  look  upcMi  the  Christian 
as  denationalised,  and  on  conversion  as  equivalrat  to  denationali- 
sation." 

Now  in  the  face  of  all  this,  we  repeat  that  the  aim  of  fordgn 

missions  is  just  what  we  have  declared  it  to  be.  It  is  the  naturali- 
sation of  Christianity,  both  as  doctrine  and  institution  in  the 
foreign  nations.  But  this  is  no  more  easy  than  the  work  of 
making  Christ  known  or  the  work  of  winning  men  to  Hit 
discipleship.  The  racial  chasm  exists.  It  is  that  chasm  which 
creates  the  difficulty.  Paul  did  not  experience  it.  He  was  a 
Roman.  Wherever  he  went  he  was  in  his  own  country  and 
among  his  own  people.  Everywhere  he  found  Jews  and  prose- 
lyttt  to  Judaism.    Everywhere  he  found  Greek  cultttrt  and 


TO         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

Greek  forms  of  thought.  Everywhere  he  was  under  Roman 
law  and  under  Roman  social  institutions.  Our  missions  are 
foreign  missions,  not  in  the  sense  of  Paul's,  but  in  the  sense 
that  Paul's  would  have  been  if  he  had  gone  to  India  or  to 
China.  We  cannot  go  into  the  non-Christian  world  as  other  than 
we  are  or  with  anything  else  than  that  which  we  have.  Even 
when  we  have  done  our  best  to  disentangle  the  universal  truth 
inxa  the  Western  form  tiiat  it  may  find  the  Eastern  heart,  we 
know  that  we  have  not  done  it.  "  We  are  there."  says  Dr. 
Gibson,  "to  teach  the  Word  of  God,  to  plant  in  their  minds 
ideas  whidi  are  to  be  tiw  universal  possession  of  all  God's 
people.  We  are  perhaps  hardly  aware  how  much  our  own  na- 
tional temperament,  our  own  upbringing,  and  the  schools  of 
theology  from  which  we  come,  tend  to  shape  and  colour  our 
teaching.  It  requires  a  constant  effort  of  watchfuhfiess  to  see 
to  it  that  we  offer  to  those  under  gii<-  care  the  pure,  uncoloured, 
universal  essence  of  our  Lord's  teacumg,  and  not  the  essentially 
Scottish  or  Western  theology  and  Gospel."— (Gibson,  "  Mission 
Problems  and  Mission  Methods,"  pp.  282-286.)  We  are  not 
agreed  as  to  the  essential  and  universal  elements  of  Christianity 
here.  How  great  is  their  problem  who  go  out  to  plant  the 
faith  in  other  lands! 

And  even  in  the  case  of  elements  of  Christianity  which  are 
obviously  and  concededly  universal,  do  not  think  that  it  is  easy 
to  find  a  home  for  them  in  all  lands— the  sinless  holiness  of 
God  in  India,  the  fatherly  goodness  of  God  in  Islam,  the  in- 
dividuality of  the  soul  in  Japan,  the  personality  of  God  in  all 
the  Buddhist  lands.  "They  will  readily  understand,"  said  a 
Japanese  speaker  in  Tokyo,  several  years  ago,  referring  to  his 
countrymen,  "  if  you  say  that  God  is  Creator  or  that  Heaven 
is  order,  but  a  God  with  personality  is  an  idea  hard  for  them 
to  grasp.  Even  among  Christians  (Japanese)  of  the  present 
time,  the  number  who  have  really  comprehended  tidi  pcnonal 
God  is  comparatively  small.  ...  A  ready  understanding  will 
be  met  with  if  Christ  is  said  to  be  a  man  of  perfection  or  per- 
fect righteotisnesi  or  the  lilw.  But  the  £  vine  mttire  of  CSiritt 
thqr  do  not  readily  accqrt.  .  .  .  The  weakness  of  numidad  tiiqr. 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  71 


well  know.  To  make  them  take  tlw  next  step,  to  grasp  the  sin- 
fulness of  sin,  is  the  great  problem.  ...  To  make  these  funda- 
mental truths  clear  to  the  present  generation  is  a  great  and 
agonising  labour." — (Watson,  "  The  Future  of  Ja        p.  328.) 

The  introduction  of  Western  elements  in  our  ir  ,  irse  with 
the  non-Christian  peoples  is  inevitable.  The  Chri^tip.  missions 
are  not  the  tmly  agencies  at  work  upon  tiie  worid  vdiidi  carry 
their  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,  or  which  have  difficulty  in 
planting  their  contribution  as  a  living  power.  Let  us  hear  the 
same  witnesses  we  have  already  heard — first,  Vambery,  speaking 
of  Western  pditical  pdicy  in  Asia: 

A  deeper  insight  into  the  actual  relationship  between  East 
and  West,  a  thorough  testing  of  the  ethnical  characteristics  and 
the  ethical  conditions  of  the  elements  that  had  to  be  reformed, 
was  seldom  thought  necessary;  it  was  enough  to  have  laid  out 
tlM  programme  of  the  reforms  and  innovations  which  were  to 
take  place,  and  afterwards  we  wondered  why  the  Asiatic,  dressed 
in  clothes  far  too  big,  too  wide,  and  too  heavy  for  his  corporeal 
dimensions,  should  drag  himself  along  so  painfully  and  labori- 
ously. It  was  an  initial  mistake  both  on  the  part  of  the  Euro> 
pean  master  and  of  the  Oriental  pupil,  that  the  modem  doctrines 
were  not  made  more  compatible  with  the  local,  etimlcal,  and 
ethical  conditions,  and  also  more  popular.  If  many  of  the  new 
customs  and  notions,  which  must  have  appeared  monstrous  to 
the  Moslem  mind,  had  been  made  a  little  more  attractive,  ^ 
transition  would  have  been  easier.  But  Europe  has  never  talnai 
the  trouUe  to  enquire  into  tiiese  matters,  and  the  Oriental  does 
not  understand  such  things;  the  several  conditions  of  the  two 
worlds  have  not  been  sufficiently  taken  into  consideration,  and 
from  the  consequences  of  these  initial  mistakes  Alt  hiaoic  WOlU» 
and  Turkey  in  particular,  suffers  to  this  day. 

And  Mxt.  Mr.  Townscnd: 

Eiqflish  edttcatkm  in  India  n»y  remain  sterile  for  all  mtkmal 
purposes.  It  is  not  a  pleasant  thoueht,  but  it  is  an  unavoidable 
one,  that  the  conquest  of  the  east  Aryans  b^  the  west  Aryans, 
though  it  has  brought  such  marvellous  blessmgs  in  the  way  of 
peace  and  order  and  material  prosperity,  tiiough  it  has  given  to 
millkMis.  u  Mr.  Grant  Duff  says,  au  Ac  rtsdtt  of  po^ieal 
«voltttioo  witfioitt  Hm  wwying  strand  for  Oiem.  aMqr  tmm 


7a         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


brought  also  evils  which  overbalance,  or  almost  overbalance,  aV 
its  gifts.  Not  much  is  gained  to  the  world  because  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Empire  Bengalees  increase  like  flies  on  a  windless 
day.  It  is  not  time  yet  for  conclusions,  for  the  work  of  con- 
quest has  but  just  ended,  and  that  of  sowing  seed  has  just  begun ; 
but  that  decay  of  varieties  of  energy,  that  torpor  of  the  higher 
intellectual  life,  that  pause  in  the  application  of  art  knowledge, 
from  architecture  down  to  metal  work  and  pottery,  which  have 
been  synchronous  with  our  rule  in  India,  these  are  to  the  philo- 
sophic observer  melancholy  symptoms.  Why  is  not  the  world 
yet  richer  for  an  Indian  brain  ?  There  was  a  Roman  peace  once 
round  the  Mediterranean,  under  which  originality  so  died  away 
that  it  is  doubtful  whether,  but  for  the  barbarian  invasion,  society 
would  not  have  stereotyped  itself,  and  even  Oiristianity  have 
^wn  fossil ;  and  our  rule,  nnidi  nxMer  thmig^  its  motive  and 
Its  methods  be,  may  be  accompanied  by  the  same  decay.  In 
the  two  hundred  years  during  which  Spaniards  have  ruled  in 
the  New  World  but  one  Indian  name  has  reached  Europe,  and 
Juarez  was  onl^  a  politician.  We  have  only  to  hope  and  to 
persevere;  but  it  is  impossible,  when  the  restilts  are  from  time 
to  time  summed  up  by  cool  observers  like  the  Governor  of 
Madras,  not  to  feel  a  chilling  doubt.    We  think  little  of  the 

e>litical  childishness  of  educated  natives  on  which  Mr.  Grant 
uff  is  so  serenely  sarcastic,  for  that  is  a  mere  qmiptom  of 
unrest,  possibly  healthy  unrest;  and  we  utterly  dingree  wWi 
him  in  his  assertion  that  only  a  wealthy  community  can  be  well 
governed,  holding  Switzerland  to  be  better  governed  than  France ; 
but  the  want  of  spontaneous  effort  in  all  directions,  the  limita- 
tion of  ambition  to  a  salary  from  the  State,  seem  to  us  syRq>t<»ns 
either  of  intellectual  torpor  or  intellectaal  despair.  We  know 
quite  well  the  tendency  of  Asia  to  stereotype  herself,  but  we 
had  hoped  that  British  dominion  would  revivify  her;  and  as  yet 
—except  possibly  in  the  .  nportant  domain  of  law,  a  reverence 
for  which  is  slowly  filtering  down— the  signs  are  very  few.  The 
Codes  will,  as  Mr.  Grant  Duff  bdieves,  materially  influence 
Indian  thought ;  but  then,  the  Codes  were  the  work  not  of  East- 
em  Aryans,  but  of  those  who  conquered  them.  "^Ve  want  original 
Indian  work;  and  as  yet  we  have  only  men  wl  .  will  take  any 
poat,  provided  that  its  salary  is  guaranteed  by  the  State  aad 
its  work  ordered  and  contfoucd  regularly  from  above. 

Christian  missions  are  not  alone  In  this  difliculty.  The  ditR- 
culty,  moreover,  lies  more  with  the  material  than  with  the  move- 
ment  The  obstacles  to  the  naturalisation  of  Christianity  do 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  73 


not  reside  in  any  reluctance  of  the  Christian  missions  to  recog- 
nise this  as  their  aim  so  much  as  in  the  imitativeness  of  the 
East  The  new  {wblic  buildings  of  Asia,  the  new  furmture  in 
her  palaces,  the  dress  of  her  modem  statesmen,  the  new  things 
which  she  is  spontaneously  taking  on  are  copies  of  the  West 
The  exotic  appearance  of  Uie  new  religious  forms  is  not  peculiar 
to  rdigion.  A«a  of  her  own  accord  is  importing  the  West  The 
missionary  movement  would  fain  see  far  less  of  imitation  and 
far  more  inward  acceptance  of  the  real  principle  of  a  new  life. 
Our  lament  is  not  that  the  Eastern  Churches  are  thinking  for 
themsdves,  but  that  tiwy  are  not  thinking  for  themsdves.  Hut 
they  are  not  working  out  fresh  theological  statements  on  the 
basis  of  an  adequate  critical  study  of  the  growth  of  Christian 
<k)ctrine,  a  new  search  of  the  Scriptures,  aiKi  their  own  new 
experience  of  God  in  Christ.  The  missionary  movement  is  left 
to  bear  too  great  a  burden.  Its  aim  is  to  be  rid  of  this  burden, 
to  build  up  native  Churches  which  will  themselves  carry  this 
burden,  which  will  ded  witii  tiietr  own  apologetic  proUenis, 
work  out  their  own  institutions,  support  their  own  activities, 
and  evangelise  their  own  lands;  in  one  word,  to  establish  in- 
dependent, natMMial  Churdies. 

In  realising  this  aim,  however,  many  tUngs  will  of  necessity 
be  done  that  will  have  to  be  undone.  No  one  can  foretell  what 
forms  of  thought  and  what  types  of  organisation  will  be  developed 
by  any  national  genius  when  wrought  upon  and  wrought  in  by 
the  living  principles  of  the  Gos|)el.  The  life  will  grow  in  these 
lands  as  it  has  grown  elsewhere.  What  it  had  to  borrow  at 
the  beginning  it  will  throw  off.  It  will  pass  through  many 
phaaes.  For  generations  it  may  have  far  more  to  learn  from 
us  than  we  from  it.  Can  its  early  stages  be  otherwise  than 
imitative?  They  are  very  certain,  in  some  lands,  especially  in 
a  land  like  China,  steeped  m  its  Confucian  moralimi,  ai^  Jiqwii 
destitute  of  the  idea  of  personality,  to  have  a  very  inadequate 
sense  of  sin.  Dr.  Gibson  has  described  for  us  clearly  and  sym- 
pathetically in  his  book  the  type  of  Christianity  developed  in 
a  field  where  miiiiowarfet  have,  nevcrtbelcM,  lou^ht  canwitiy  to 
satmliM  the  new  fdSfioB: 


74         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


It  is  difficult  to  characterise  with  accuraor  the  prevalent  type 
of  Christianity  which  we  find  on  our  mission  fidd.   There  is 
a  great  deal  of  simple  faith,  of  belief  in  prayer,  and  there  is 
at  least  a  very  frequent  acknowledgment,  if  not  a  very  pro- 
found sense,  of  the  working  of  the  Holy  Spirit.    The  great 
defect  which  probably  all  missionaries  in  China  fMl,  is  the  lack 
in  the  native  Church  of  a  keen  sense  of  sm.   The  natural  con- 
science has  nc^  of  course,  lost  wholly  its  appreciation  of  the 
distinctions  between  right  and  wrong,  but  sin  in  the  Christian 
sense,  and  still  more  an  adequate  conception  of  the  guilt  of  sin, 
are  things  wholly  unknown  to  the  non-Christian  Qiinese,  and 
which  only  come  very  slowly  to  the  consciousness  even  of  the 
Christians.   I  have  said  that  new  converts  are  generally  brought 
in  by  the  example  and  the  testimony  of  native  Christians  in 
private  life,  and  so  far  as  their  conversion  is  a  matter  of  doc- 
trinal conviction,  I  believe  experience  shows  that  the  great 
majority  of  th<»e  who  accept  tiie  Christian  faith  do  so,  not 
because  of  conviction  of  personal  sin,  but  because  they  have 
grasped  the  idea  of  the  obvious  helplessness  of  the  idols,  and 
the  folly  rather  than  the  sin  of  worshipping  them.    From  this 
position  they  attain  to  some  knowledge  and  belief  in  the  living 
and  true  God,  but  tfiey  seem  seldom  to  realise  that  theit  long 
alienation  from  Him  has  involved  any  guilt.    They  have  com- 
mitted a  mistake,  perhaps ;  they  have  been  unhappily  left  in  the 
dark ;  but  now  that  they  have  come  to  know  God  rae  past  per- 
il^ is  too  easily  forgotten,  and  there  is  always  a  too  superficial 
gladness  in  their  new  possession  of  the  truth,  which  leads  them 
away  from  that  kind  of  self-questioning  which  might  have  led 
them  to  a  deeper  sense  of  sin.   The  state  of  mind  has  its  ad- 
vantages and  its  drawbacks.   On  the  one  hand,  it  gives  a  fresh- 
ness, sini{^ty,  and  freedom  to  their  testimony  to  the  Gospel. 
They  have  no  tendency  to  make  the  way  of  salvation  seem  hard 
to  those  who  are  outside.  They  reduce  the  Gospel  to  its  simplest 
elements,  and  seek  to  lead  men  to  it  by  the  easiest  paths.  It 
may  be  that  this  is  a  right  and  needful  stage  in  the  early  history 
of  a  Christian  Church,  but  we  who  have  been  brought  up  in 
ui  dder  Christian  Hfe  often  long  to  see  a  deeper  conception 
of  qiiritual  things,  and  a  lar|^er  sense  of  what  is  involved  in 
the  transition  from  death  to  hfe.  One  is  often  tempted  to  ask 
what  the  Christian  religion  is  as  it  presents  itself  to  the  con- 
sdoa^ss  of  taaay  of  our  Christian  people  in  China.  Occa- 
sional trttcrsnces  on  their  part  give  one  glimpses  of  a  system 
of  Christian  ideas  some  of  which  are  strange  enough,  and  many 
of  which,  though  true  and  sound  in  themselves,  #ffer  widely 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  HETHODe  73 


as  r^rds  emphasis  and  balmce  from  the  Christian  system  as 
it  presents  itself  to  our  mliidt.  Hence  arises  the  profoundly 
interesting  question  how  Christian  life  and  thedogy  are  likdy 
to  develop  themselves  in  a  young  Church  like  that  of  China, 
growing  ujp  amongst  a  people  who  are  themselves  the  outcome 
of  an  anoait  ctvttsatioo  and  intdlectoal  ttic 

A  Christian  experience  like  tiiis  is  not  prepared  to  make 
any  greit  contribution  to  theology  or  to  the  experimental  under- 
standing of  our  faith.  It  is  merely  the  replica  of  a  frame  of 
ndnd  very  common  among  us  in  the  West,  a  frame  of  mind 
capable  of  subtracting  from,  but  not  of  adding  to,  the  face's 
apprehension  of  the  fulness  of  God  in  Christ.  And  in  the 
naturalisation  of  Christianity  we  must  be  prepared  not  only  for 
sQch  subtractioa,  trnt  also  for  many  excesses.  The  Taiping 
rebellion  is  an  illustration  of  what  an  ind^ienoos  interpretation 
of  Christianity,  unguided  by  the  maturer  experience  of  the  West 
and  divorced  from  organic  relation  with  the  historic  Christian 
traditbn,  may  produce.  It  will  be  no  strange  thiiv  if  Utt 
Hindu  coosckMmeM  nms  off  into  wilder  and  km  rcoovcndUe 
wreckage. 

The  aim  of  tiie  missionary  movement,  as  we  have  now  defined 
it,  i.e.,  to  make  Christ  known  to  the  world  with  a  view  to  real 
results  in  the  salvation  of  individuals  and  their  organisation  into 
living  native  Churches,  is,  accordingly,  not  an  easy  aim,  but  it  is 
single  and  cohere^  and  it  is  practkable.  It  is  the  aim  of  tfw 
misnon  enterprise  to  make  Christ  known  to  men  with  a  view 
to  making  men  disciples  of  Christ.  This  means  more  than  induc- 
ing them,  while  still  remaining  Hindus  or  Mohammedans,  to  take 
a  broader  view  of  God's  moral  goferninan  and  His  education 
of  the  human  race.  It  means  their  acceptance  nf  Christ  as  their 
Saviour  and  Lord,  as  the  full  revelation  of  God  and  the  Redeemer 
from  sin,  and  tiidr        cri^ment  in  Wa  service. 

The  aim  of  foreign  misskms  is  not,  therefore,  the  civilisatioa 
of  the  world,  any  mere  change  in  men's  habits  of  life,  any 
mere  enlargement  of  men's  knowledge.  A  multitude  of  agencies 
art  opmtfaif  on  the  worid  in  bdialf  of  hmnan  pragrtss.  Some 
art  doinf  ham;  soaN»  mini^  hami  wad  fsod;  tooM*  faed. 


76      cHRisnANrry  and  the  nations 


The  deepest  and  {rarest  of  these  is  the  force  of  Christianity 
expressed  to  the  non-Christian  world,  for  the  most  part,  in 
the  enterprise  of  missions.  Every  motive  which  interests  men 
in  tiie  good  of  tiieir  fdkms  should  Ssptm  mm  to  advance  tiiis 
enterprise,  but  Hnt  aim  of  the  cntcrpriac  is  not  the  civilisation 
of  the  world. 

Neither  is  it  the  conversion  of  the  world.  We  believe  that 
some  day  Jesus  Christ  is  to  rule  over  all  the  earth,  that  every 
knee  will  bow  and  every  tongue  confess  that  He  is  God  to 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father,  but  foreign  missions  finished  their 
work  in  Scotland  and  the  United  States  before  that  day  was 
reached,  and  they  will  finish  their  work  everywhere  dse  in  the 
world  before  that  day  will  come.  The  foreign  missionary  enter- 
prise is  not  coterminous  in  place  or  time  with  the  Church.  Its 
business  is  a  stripy  limited  business.  It  is  to  pimt  ChristiMnty 
as  a  living  power  in  each  non-Christian  land,  develop  there  a 
Chtnrch  which  will  have  a  life  of  its  own,  and  assume  itself  the 
burden  of  responsibility  for  tiie  evai^lisati(Mi  of  its  own  nation. 
For  a  time  logjer  or  shorter,  the  missiciary  enterprise  mast 
remain  to  co-operate  with  the  Church,  and  will  then  pass  on 
into  regions  beyond,  if  there  be  yet  regions  beyond,  while  further 
aid  win  be  givra,  if  needed,  and  under  e^qtedknt  arrai^anwnti, 
by  the  Churdies  of  Christ,  as  by  equal  to  equal  in  a  coimiw 
task. 

This  does  not  dissolve  the  obligation  expressed  in  the  phrase, 
**the  evangelisation  of  the  world  in  this  generation."  That 
phrase  embodies  the  solemn  duty  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Every  num  has  a  right  to  know  of  Christ  Every  man  can  be 
made  to  know  of  Christ  There  are  old  men  who  w9  <Se 
before  the  Church  can  reach  them,  but  it  remains  true,  none 
the  less,  as  a  rough  statement  of  fact,  that  we  can,  if  we  will, 
make  Christ  known  to  all  the  world  in  this  generation.  No  other 
work  will  need  to  be  left  undone.  No  interest  will  suffer.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  resolute  effort  of  the  Church,  through  all 
the  channels  by  which  she  can  act  upon  the  world  to  make 
Christ  known  to  every  creature,  would  involve  ttat  very  access 
•ad  rdcasc  of  powor,  that  very  rediacoveiy  of  die  IMt^  Go4 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METSODS  77 


tluit  vcrjr  nptimg  of  tht  he^Bog  Uft  of  God  to  own,  wUeh 

would  not  only  carry  Christ  over  all  the  world,  i  ut  would  also 
carry  Him  into  all  the  world's  life  and  make  Him  the  redeemer 
of  humanity.  The  evai^etisation  of  the  world  in  this  generation, 
however,  is  not  the  full  aim  of  Ae  foreign  nitssic»M7  CHlerprise. 
The  aim  vf  this  enterprise  is  to  establish  everywhere  a  Church 
that  will  iiave  this  for  her  aim,  to  inspire  that  Church  as  she 
is  bounded  abroad,  and  to  quicken  Uw  Chnrdi  tiiat  has  been 
founded  at  home  to  seek  this  end,  and  to  co-operate  with  bodi 
until  it  is  absorbed  in  the  awakened  tide  of  their  missionary 
energy  in  thdr  effort  to  realise  the  character  of  God  in  Christ 
and  to  fulfil  the  very  nature  of  the  Christian  Oiurch  and  Ae 
Gospel  with  which  she  is  charged  in  the  P»«^iHiiwrton  of  all 
the  life  of  man. 

When  once  tiie  distinctive  and  determining  aim  of  tiie  mis- 
sionary enterprise  is  clearly  grasped,  then  we  can  make  room 
for  the  use  of  almost  any  method.  Everything  is  legitimate 
which  is  consistent  wn.h  this  aim  and  which  helps  to  realise  it 
As  Alexander  Dufr  snd  in  die  rcsdutioB  whidi  he  presented 
at  the  Conference  heM  jn  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  New  York 
City  in  1854  in  ans-»  ■.  question:  "What  are  the  divinely 

appMBlad  and  most  efficient  means  of  *«totA|>  the  Gospd  of 
sahraHoB  to  all  men?" 

Resolved,  as  the  general  sense  of  this  Cbovention,  that  the 
chief  means  of  divine  appointment  for  tfte  evasqgdisatkm  of  tht 
world  are— the  faithful  teaching  and  r-^achinsr  of  the  pure 
Gospel  of  salvation  by  <i  u ,  qualified  ministers  and  other  holy 
and  consistent  disciples  c:  !■€  Lord  Tesus  Christ— accompanied 
with  prayer  and  savmgly  applied  by  i  ^  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit; 
such  means,  m  the  providential  an^tkm  of  them  hy  human 
^^1^,  embracing  not  merely  instruction  by  the  living  voice, 
but  the  translation  and  judicious  circulation  of  the  whole  written 
word  of  God— the  preparation  and  circulation  of  evangelical 
tracts  and  books — as  well  as  any  r.her  instrumentalities  fitted 
to  bring  the  word  of  God  home  to  mm's  aouls— together  wtdi 
•y  jwocesses  which  experience  may  have  sanctioned  as  th*;  most 
mUmt  ia  raising  up  everywhere  indigenous  ministers  and  teach- 
«n  of  Am  fiviag  GcMptL 


78         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


We  see  this  flexibility  of  method  combined  with  definiteness 
of  aim  in  the  missionary  work  of  St.  Paul.  He  sought  to  do 
just  what  foreign  missions  are  seeking  to  do,  and  he  resorted 
to  every  method  which  he  thought  might  prove  serviceabte. 
He  went  out  to  the  centres  over  the  Roman  world  where  men 
were  accessible  and  where  the  Church,  when  established,  would 
be  most  influential  in  reaching  bodi  lives  and  life.  He  did  not 
settle  permanently  in  one  place.  His  ambition  was  to  fotmd 
churches  all  over  the  Roman  Empire,  and  especially  in  unevan- 
gelised  territory.  He  was,  at  least  to  a  great  extent,  self-support- 
ing in  his  woric,  labouring  with  his  own  hands  in  scmm  places, 
and  at  other  times  apparently  living  upon  other  resources.  At 
any  rate,  the  churches  which  he  founded  did  not  support  him. 
He  did  not  rely  upon  miracles,  or  philanthropic  work  of  any 
sort.  He  did  not  supply  funds  for  the  salaries  of  workers  in 
the  churches.  He  appointed  leaders  of  the  Christians  from 
among  their  own  number  and  expected  them  to  give  liberally 
to  aid  the  poor  in  distant  places.  He  took  tfie  living  Goq>el  of 
the  divine  Saviour  and  planted  that  in  the  soil  of  human  life. 
He  was  his  own  supreme  method.  Christ  was  in  him,  and  in 
him  and  by  him  Christ  was  preached  to  men. 

The  conditions  to-day  are  widely  different  from  tiw  con- 
ditions with  which  Paul  had  to  deal.  We  work  among  people 
of  other  languages,  other  civilisations,  other  intellectual  and 
moral  presm^)Ositi<ms,  otiwr  political  sovere^tfes,  where  our 
propaganda  is  entangled  with  contradictions.  Our  work  is  easier, 
but  it  is  also  more  difficult  than  his.  We  go  about  i^  with 
his  methods,  and  also  with  methods  of  our  own — but  all  with 
Hit  same  aim. 

The  first  method  is  the  method  of  our  Saviour  Himself, — 
namely,  the  method  of  incarnation.  That  is  the  only  way  living 
tnttia  can  be  communicated.  Words  cannot  convey  it  In  many 
lands  there  are  no  words  which  contain  or  even  suggest  the  new 
ideas  which  are  to  be  conveyed.  In  China  for  many  generations 
there  has  been  a  dispute  as  to  the  best  term  to  use  for  God. 
And  even  if  there  were  words,  Uie  words  eamwt  fai^wrt  Hfe 
nve  u  •  living  %irit  worin  to  tei,  tsd  u  for  tiM  noit  part 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  79 

they  are  illustrated  and  confirmed  in  life.  Men  moat  be  the 
Gospel  before  men.  Only  by  being  Himself  the  conception  of 
God  which  He  came  to  reveal  did  Jesus  impart  that  conception 
to  men.  Only  by  being  the  bread  of  life  and  the  Ught  of  the 
world  did  He  give  nottridmient  and  kaowk^  to  twmMM.  ,^^|, 
It  is  so  still. 

It  goe?  without  saying  that  the  man  who  would  thus  make 
Christ  kn  vn  will  love  the  people  to  whom  he  goes  and  wiU  be 
their  friend.  He  may  not  like  them.  He  surely  will  abhor  much 
that  he  finds  among  them  as  he  abhors  much  that  he  finds  at 
home,  but  tiie  love  of  Christ  constrains  him  to  love  the  un- 
Hkable,  and  that  love  will  discover  what  is  tovdy  w  can  bt 
made  so.  The  missionary  enterprise  sprang  from  such  a  temper, 
and  whatever  men  may  say  about  the  ?.ard  motives  which  they 
suppose  led  our  fathers  to  begin  it,  we  know  that  it  was  begun 
in  a  spirit  of  great  sympathy  and  desire  for  »he  most  practical 

^l"^*^^'  ****  General  Assembly  of  the 

Presbyterian  Church  in  tfie  United  States  of  America  addressed 
to  its  foreign  missionaries  in  India  and  Africa  in  1838  wttt 
illustrates  this  view: 

Let  the  heathen  among  whan  you  labour  see  that  you  tovt 
them  and  that  you  are  intent  on  promoting  their  best  interests. 
Your  labours  will  be  pleasant  to  yourselves,  as  well  as  more  likely 
to  benefit  them  m  proportion  to  the  degree  in  which  you  feel 
and  manifest  an  ardent  desire  to  advance  their  happiness.  You 
can  probably  do  much  for  pranoting  their  temporal  as  well  as 
their  eternal  welfare  by  reconmending  abstinence  from  intoxi- 
cating liquors,  industry,  the  intrtxluction  of  important  arts  and 
trades;  and,  in  short,  everything  which  has  a  bearing  on  personal 
and  domestic  comfort.  Every  benefit  of  this  nature  which  you 
confer  on  the  heathen  will  endear  you  to  them,  and  wiU  also 
prepare  them  .nore  fully  to  profit  by  your  evangelical  ministra- 
tions. In  a  word,  everything  that  vou  can  do  to  lift  them  up 
m  the  scale  of  knowledge  and  civilisation,  as  well  as  of  Chris- 
*  5jJ2[  important,  and  wUl  forward  the  great  purpose 
for  wUch  yen  are  sent  to  then. 

Tht  nprane  missionary  method  is  this  living  of  the  Gospel. 
EMh  tme  misrioeary  to  fai  UmatU  a  prodaattkm  of  Chriit 


8o         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


Without  a  word  he  is  making  Christ  known  if  he  is  living 
Christ  before  the  people.  The  simple  fact  that  all  over  the 
non-Christian  world  are  little  conqMuies  of  Christian  men  wad 
women  who  are  living  the  Christian  life  and  in  Acnsdves  re- 
vealing Christ,  is  a  missionary  agency  of  greater  power  tbui 
any  other,  and  without  which  no  other  would  be  of  any  power 
at  an. 

The  truly  great  misskmaries,  accordingly,  have  been  the  men 
and  women  of  love  in  whom  Christ  has  shone  forth.  The 
richer  their  intellectual  capacities  and  personal  force,  the  better, 
but  only  provided  through  these  also  Christ  was  made  known 
to  me.n.  Let  us  recall,  for  illustration,  three  great  nrtissionaries 
who  were  men  of  rare  qualities,  but  whose  chief  power  and 
service  were  tiieir  ceaseless  witness  to  Christ  in  all  tint  tiwy 
were  and  did.  The  first  is  Adoniram  Judson.  His  missionary 
ideal  was  set  forth  in  a  letter  home :  "  In  encouraging  other 
young  men  to  come  out  as  missionaries,  do  use  the  greatest 
caution.  One  wrmig-headed,  oonsctMitioasly-obrtinate  fdlow 
would  ruin  us.  Humble,  quiet,  persevering  men ;  men  of  sound, 
steriing  talents  (though,  perhaps,  not  brilliant),  of  decent  ac- 
comfdishments,  and  some  natural  aptitude  to  acquire  a  language ; 
men  of  an  amiable,  yielding  temper,  willing  to  take  the  lowest 
place,  to  be  the  least  of  all  and  the  servant  of  all;  men  who 
enjoy  much  closet  religion,  who  live  near  to  God,  and  are  willing 
to  suffer  an  things  for  Chris's  sake,  withovl  betnr  ^  it> 
these  are  the  men.  ...  But  Ot  how  ra^lBi  to  lU»  descf^fion 
is  the  writer  of  it." 

But  those  who  knew  him  felt  that  he  did  embody  this  ideal, 
and  his  own  spiritual  principles  show  how  itmaAy  be  lOi^ht 
to  represent  Christ  in  his  own  pmoa  and  to  #0i^  Wm,  ^lAmHf 
by  life  or  by  death: 

Pohts  of  SOf-diiM 

I.  The  passion  for  neatness,  uniforn^,  and  orter  ia  tmmgh 
mmt  of  tiimgs— in  dress,  in  writing,  te  freunds. 

3.  A  dispositimi  to  suffer  annoyance  mm  tttie  impropriides 
fai  UttM  bthaviowr  md  conversation  of  othms. 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  8i 

3.  A  desire  to  appear  to  advanti  ^e,  to  get  hoaoar  muA  avoid 
shame.   "  Come  shame,  come  sorrow,"  etc 

4.  A  desire  for  perwnal  am  mi  oomlort,  and  •  «t*"^ftinTt 
to  suffer  mconvciMaoe. 

5.  Usii^ltmiiett  to  bear  cootfMlictiaK. 

Rules  of  Life 

Rules  adopted  on  Sunday,  April  4,  1819,  the  era  of  commenc- 
ing public  ministrations  among  the  Burmans ;  revised  and  adopted 
o^Saturday,  December  9,  i8ao,  and  on  We^Msday,  April  35. 

1.  Be  diligent  in  secret  prayer,  every  mominf  and  wntty 

2.  Never  spend  a  moment  in  mere  idleness. 

3.  Restrain  natural  appetites  witkoi  die  bowids  of  temperance 
and  purity.  "  Keep  thyself  pure." 

4.  Suppress  every  emoUon  of  anger  and  ill  will. 

5.  Undertake  nothing  from  motives  of  anbittan  or  love  of 
fame. 

6.  Never  do  that  which,  at  the  mmient,  appears  to  be  dis- 
pleasing to  God. 

7.  Seek  opportunities  of  makiiy  some  sacrifice  for  the  good 
of  others,  especially  of  believers,  provided  the  sao^ke  is  net 
inconsistent  with  some  duty. 

S^ndeavour  to  rejoice  in  every  loss  and  suffering  inetnred 
for  Chnsts  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  remembering  that  though, 
like  death,  diey  are  not  to  be  wilfully  incurred,  yet,  like  death, 
mjr  are  greM  pfe. 

Readopted  the  aMvc  nUes,  partkulariy  the  4th,  on  Stmday. 

August  31,  1823. 

^R^dopted  the  above  rvAes.  particularly  the  first,  on  Sunday, 
Oclowr  29,  1826,  and  adopted  the  followirg  minor  rules: 

I.  Kite  with  the  sun. 
«6epte^^  a  certain  portion  of  Burman  every  day,  Sundays 

3.  Have  the  Scriptures  and  some  dsv^i^  Ipqk  in  eonstuit 
readmg. 

4.  Read  mMim  Eq#A  (AmT  ^  not  a  devolioMd  trad- 

ency. 

5.  Supptm  every  tmclnn  Hhov^t  and  kxrft. 

^Rwi^  widrea^ted  all  the  aboy  rules,  particularly  the 
saeoM  of  ine  wit  stais,  od  Suttdty,  Mutii  11,  iS^f. 


83 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


August  9,  1842. 
God  grant  me  grace  to  keep  the  above  rules,  and  ever  live 
to  His  glory,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.  A.  Judson. 

1.  Be  more  careful  to  observe  the  seasons  of  secret  prayer. 

2.  Never  indulge  resentful  feelings  toward  any  person. 

3.  Embrace  every  opportunity  of  exercising  kind  feelings,  9nd 
doing  good  to  others,  especially  to  the  household  of  faith. 

4.  Sweet  in  tenqwr,  face,  and  word, 

To  please  an  ever^resent  Lord. 

Renewed  December  31,  184a. 

December  31,  1842.   Resolved  to  make  the  desire  to  pleue 

Christ  the  grand  motive  of  all  my  actions. 

The  second  is  James  Stewart,  the  founder  of  Lovedale,  whom 
Lord  Milner  called  the  greatest  human  in  South  Africa,  but 
who  wottM  never  have  been  that  if  he  had  not  been  more,  if 
Christ  had  not  been  in  him  and  through  him  made  known,  in 
tenderness  and  patience  and  love.  "Tenderness  of  heart  in 
him,"  says  Dr.  W^s  in  his  biography,  "rose  to  genius,  «kI 
it  was  not  chitted  by  years  or  by  cruel  disappointments.  His 
sympathies  overflowed  and  went  down  beneath  man  to  the  animal 
world.  A  man  or  beast  in  misery  was  to  him  a  sacred  thing. 
He  could  not  pass  unheeded  a  beggar,  an  old  man  or  woman, 
or  poor  little  children.  However  busy — and  he  was  always  in 
a  whirlpool  of  work — he  had  endless  patience  witii  sufferers. 
...  It  was  the  knowledge  of  his  sympathy  with  them  in  aU 
their  troubles  that  gave  Stewart  such  a  hold  over  his  natives 
and  pupils.  They  knew  that  they  could  go  to  him  at  any  hour 
of  the  day.  and  he  would  listen  as  patiently  to  their  little  tales 
of  distress  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  ndghty  moment  His  sym- 
pathy kept  him  from  being  impatient  with  those  less  gifted  than 
himself.  Stewart  was  full  of  patience  towards  the  boys  and  girls 
who  were  gathered  together  at  Lovedale." 

The  third  missionary  is  David  HiU.  Let  me  quote  an  extract 
from  Dr.  Barber's  "  Da/id  Hill,  MifsiooMy  and  Saint"  It  it 
Hill  himself  speaking: 

The  pMsibility  of  a  far,  I  was  almost  writing  an  infinitely, 
mgher  Christian  life  thui  I  live  or  see  lived  it  to  indiiptttaue 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  8j 


to  reasonable  minds  that  the  employment  of  this  or  tfttt  tarn 
in  expressing  the  same  is  to  my  mind  a  small  matter. 

The  Church  needs,  and  John  Wesley  felt,  as  he  proceeded 
with  his  great  work,  the  great  benefit  of  the  setting  forth  of  « 
taffi  ideal  towards  which  to  afan,— an  ideal,  if  you  like  to  call 
It  so,  but  an  impossible  ideal,  which,  if  faithfully  and  honestly 
taught,  sets  men  a-longing  for  it  by  the  power  of  the  concurrently 
witnessing  Spirit  But  you  will  find  as  clear  exposition  of  John 
Wesley's  teaching  on  this  subject  in  his  hymn-book  as  ai^- 

"A  little  MS.  book  lies  before  me,"  writes  Dr.  Barber, 
"  marked  '  Private  and  Personal,'  and  it  is  with  hushed  footstep 
that  we  venture  into  the  inner  dirine  of  a  soul's  dealing  with 
God.  It  contains  the  records  of  prayer  and  answer.  '  A  register 
of  matters  on  which  I  have  been  much  pressed  in  spirit,  and 
for  which  I  have  been  largely  drawn  out  in  prayer.'  There 
are  two  divisions,  headed  'Personal'  and  'General.'  Some 
prayers  occur  again  and  again,  some  are  speedily  marked  as  an- 
swered. There  occur  as  subjects  of  supplication  the  names  of 
misskmarjr  secretaries  in  England.  English  friendsA^nissionary, 
consular,  and  mercantile— in  China,  Chinese  with  whom  he  has 
been  talking,  statesmen  and  mandarins,  the  Chinese  money- 
dumgers,  etc.  There  are  patiwtic  confessions  of  sin,  of  fear  of 
excess  in  food  and  sleep,  of  faults  of  temper,  and  again  and 
again  is  the  record  '  with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered.' 
There  are  thanksgivings  for  conquest  over  parsimony  and  im- 
patim,  and  for  the  eonsdoomess  of  gokbnoe.  Hen  it  »m 
entry  t 

Carried  oat  in  nptaroos  lore  to  Christ  whilst  on  tfie  road; 
the  dear  friends  at  Taiyuen  Fu  must  have  been  praying  for  me. 
This  was  early  in  the  morning,  but  in  the  afternoon  wounded 
badly  by  Satan,— cartman  very  trying,  impatience,  etc. 

Here  is  a  form  of  daily  seif-iiK)uiry: 

I.  What  is  my  present  relation  to  God?  A  son?  A  slave? 
An  enemy? 

a.  What  to  my  fellow-men?  In  love  and  charity? 

3.  What  act  of  self-denial  have  I  done  or  can  I  do  to-day? 

4.  What  prayer  hu  been  antwered?  Give  Oanks. 


84         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


5.  What  "lost"  ones  have  I  sought  to  save? 

6.  What  duties  arise  out  of  prayers  I  have  put  up  to-day? 

7.  What  grace  of  Christiati  character  do  I  need  especidly  to 
foster  to-day?  By  what  means? 

Here  are  two  estimates  of  the  man  from  tiiose  who  knew 

him,  one  a  missionary,  the  other  a  civilian : 

Mr.  Hill  was  noted  for  his  gentle  and  refined  manners.  He 
was  the  Christian  gentleman  everywhere  and  always.  Whetiier 

in  his  intercourse  with  foreigners  or  natives  he  was  always 
polite,  always  civil,  always  refined.  He  had  his  strong  con- 
victions, and  he  held  them  tenaciously ;  but  it  was  always  in  the 
spirit  of  unfeismed  meekness  and  true  charity.  What  is  it  to 
be  a  gentleman?  Is  it  to  be  honest,  gentle,  generous,  brave,  wise, 
and,  possessing  all  these  qualities,  to  exercise  them  in  the  most 

Kiceful  outward  manner?  If  that  is  to  be  a  gentleman,  then 
vid  Hill  was  unquestionaUy  a  perfect  gentleman  in  every 
sense  of  the  word.  He  was  more— he  was  a  Christian  gentle- 
man. Over  and  above  all  these  natural  and  acquired  qualifica- 
tions there  rested  upon  him  something  that  lifted  him  far  above 
the  mere  gentleman,  and  which  those  who  knew  him  best  could 
o^  recopiise  as  the  beauty  of  the  Lord. 

To  me  he  has  always  seemed  the  type  of  an  ideal  missionary, 
and  I  have  quoted  him  and  his  life  scores  of  times  in  refutation 
of  unfriendly  criticism  of  missiona'ries  and  their  work.  The  in- 
fluence which  men  of  his  stamp— unconsciously  often  to  them- 
selves—exercise upon  Europeans  as  well  as  upon  natives,  is  not 
perhaps  properly  appreciated  until  we  have  lost  them.  One 
cause,  to  my  mmd,  of  the  distinct  line  of  demarcation,  which 
unfortunately  characterises  to  so  large  an  extent  the  intercourse 
of  missionaries  and  laymen  in  the  Far  East,  is  want  of  tderance 
on  the  part  of  the  former,  and  of  sympathv,  among  other  tfiii^, 
on  the  part  of  the  latter.  We  find  in  David  Hill  a  bridge  betwem 
the  two.  While  his  life  was  saturated,  so  to  speak,  with  religious 
ideas  and  aspirations,  he  was  absolutely  tolerant ;  and  as  he  was 
a  man  of  high  education  and  refinement— a  gentleman  in  the 
hi^est  sense  of  the  word— one  felt  in  his  presence  that  me 
was  not  dealing  with  a  man  who  had  placed  himself  on  a  pedestal 
of  lofty,  moral  superiority,  but  one  who  was  sympathetic,  liberal 
mteded,  and  appreciative  of  the  doubts  and  difficulties  with  which 
so  many  conscientious  men  have  to  struggle,  while  his  trans- 
parently simple  and  self-denying  life  was  beyond  the  reach  of 
hostile  critietom.  For  myOi,  lean  only  say  tlitt  be  will  hold 


THE  MISSU^I^Y  AIM  AND  METHODS  8s 


a  revered  place  in  my  meaory.  I  owe  nmcfa  to  Us  UA,  hi* 
influence,  and  his  exan^de. 

These  men  made  Christ  known  m  tiieir  fires.  If  tfiey  tad 

not  done  so,  they  could  not  have  made  Him  known  by  their 
words.  "The  very  presence  of  a  missionary,  man  or  woman, 
is  tfje  symptom  of  a  good  m^od,"  says  Dr.  Cust.  "  It  is  a 
surprise  to  the  Africans  to  have  a  white  man  in  Uieir  midst,  who, 
if  he  chose,  could  ill-use  them,  carry  off  their  wife  and  children 
and  sell  them  as  slaves,  and  yet  does  not  do  so:  the  wages, 
whether  in  cash  or  kind,  paid  regularly,  cause  a  new  sensation 
among  people  used  to  do  forced  labour :  the  kind  word  uttered, 
and  assistance  rendered  in  case  of  sickness,  surprises  them  still 
more.  Character  does  not  go  for  much  in  old  civilised  countries, 
like  India,  China,  and  Japan,  yet  the  people  aie  led  to  reflect 
upon  the  wonderful  phenomenon,  that  there  are  men  and  women 
living  among  them  for  a  score  or  more  years,  not  to  ~jle  the 
hmd  like  the  <^Iicials,  not  to  make  money  like  the  merchant,  but 
to  do  acts  of  kindness,  speak  words  of  gentleness,  encowage 
morality,  and  talk  about  God,  and  a  Future  State." 

But  we  are  told  by  some  that  this  can  only  be  e£Fectively 
done,  that  we  can  only  truly,  persuasively  represent  Christ  to 
these  non-Christian  peoples  by  the  absolutely  ascetic  ideal,  or 
that  there  are  conditions  in  which  only  that  ideal  can  avail. 
So  Canon  Taylor  argued  in  the  paper  in  the  FortttigMy  Review, 
twenty-two  yturt  ago.  on  "The  Great  Misskmary  FSaflmci'* 
which  attracted  so  much  undeserved  attention.  "  The  man  who 
can  best  touch  the  hearts  of  Indians,"  said  he,  "  must  be  a  celi- 
bate and  an  ascetk.  abstainiof  from  akohol,  living  likethe  i^iiii 
on  rice,  receiving  no  payment,  either  a  mendicant  or  wuMmg 
with  his  own  hands,  giving  up  everything  that  makes  life  com- 
fortable, converting,  not  by  argiunent,  but  by  exhibiting  in  pnc- 
tice  that  absolute  self-renunciatkjn  which  is  the  only  kn^Hft 
the  natives  can  understand."— (For/niy'if/y October,  1888. 
p.  495.)  This  is  the  easy  ideal  of  many  missionary  theorists 
and  eritks.  But  it  is  the  kkal  of  others,  also,  within  the  mis- 
tkmary  drcle.  Chinese  Gordon  bcUevid  that  such  a  prindpie 


86         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


alone  would  avail  in  the  Soudan.  The  conditioBt  made  wajHtaug 

die  impracticable.  "There  is  not  the  least  doubt,"  he  wrote 
to  his  sbter,  "that  there  is  an  immense  virgin  field  for  an 
apostle  in  these  countries  among  the  black  tribes.  .  .  .  But 
where  will  you  find  an  apostle?  I  will  explain  what  I  mean 
by  that  term.  He  must  be  a  man  who  has  died  entirely  to 
the  world;  who  has  no  ties  of  any  sort;  who  longs  for  death 
when  it  may  please  God  to  take  htm;  who  can  bear  tiw  intense 
dulness  of  these  countries;  who  seeks  for  few  letters;  and  who 
can  bear  the  thought  of  dying  deserted.  ...  A  man  must 
give  up  everything,  understand  everything,  everything  to  do 
anything  for  Christ  here.  .  .  .  To  tdl  you  plainly,  I  think  tiie 
price  God  asks  of  a  man  who  comes  out  to  live  among  the 
tribes  is  too  great  for  a  man  to  pay.  I  know  none,  no,  not 
one  who  could  pay  it."— ("  Letters  to  his  Sister,"  pp.  130-135  ) 
Even  more  within  the  circle,  we  have  had  men  like  Crossett 
in  China  who  have  become  mendicants  for  Christ's  sake,  and 
we  are  watching  now  Mr.  Stokes's  experiment  with  the  friar 
life  in  India,  in  which  he  seeks  a  literal  imitation,  as  he  con- 
ceives it,  of  the  life  of  Christ,  exempting  the  great  body  of 
missionaries  from  such  responsibility,  but  contending  that  the 
Christian  fakirs  are  indispensaUel  "Their  lives  will  count," 
writes  Mr.  Stokes.  "  I  speak  not  from  theory,  but  in  the  light 
of  experience.  Most  non-Christians  are  unable  to  believe  in  the 
disinterestedness  of  our  missionaries,  and  are  inclined  to  lode  at 
their  labours  as  the  fruit  of  some  Government  policy.  Hence, 
men  are  needed  who  will  take  their  hearts  by  storm  and  force 
them  to  admit  the  great  and  disinterested  love  of  the  Christians 
iht  magnitude  of  tfieir  self-sacrifice  and  tiw  ChristUlKnest 
of  tiieir  labours.  Men  are  needed  who  will  be  willing  to  deny 
themselves  completely  and  live  the  roughest  of  lives  under  the 
most  trying  circumstances  for  Christ's  sake."— (Eojf  and  West, 
April,  1908,  p.  138,  Art  "  Interpreting  Christ  to  India.") 

Every  Christian  heart  must  rejoice  in  such  devotion  and  pray 
for  God's  blessing  upon  it.  Mr.  Stokes  does  not  propose  his 
plan  as  the  standard  misskmary  metiiod  but  as  a  useful  sttp> 
ptenottary  agency.  There  are  some,  however,  ytbo  do  advocate 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  t? 


die  h3dT  or  mendicant  ideal  as  tfie  only  true  w  at  tout 

wisest  missionary  ideal.    It  is  an  appealing  theory,  but  the 
example  of  Christ  is  against  it,  and  the  principles  of  St.  PaoL 
Their  aim  was  to  domesticate  Christiaiiity  in  the  common  life  ol 
man,  not  to  commend  it  by  an  abnormal  setting.  Whatever  was 
necessary  to  eflFect  their  mission  they  accepted,  but  these  things 
were  not  their  mission,  and  both  rejected  the  ascetic  ideal.  Those 
who  have  tried  it  have  accomplished  no  radi  restdts  by  it  as  wer« 
accomplished  by  Judson,  Stewart,  and  David  Hill.    In  India 
the  work  of  the  Salvation  Army,  which  Canon  Taylor  praised 
as  embodying  the  right  principle,  has  been  an  utter  failure  among 
the  native  peoples,  and  George  Bowen  and  missionaries  still 
living,  who  have  sought  by  asceticism  and  imitation  of  native 
modes  of  life  to  make  Christ  known  to  the  people,  have  had 
to  confess  that  the  method  was  tneflFective,— and  for  obvious 
reasons.    The  Hindu  people  "understand  rea!  asceticism  per- 
fectly well,"  as  Mr.  Meredith  Townsend  wrote  long  ago, 
"and  reverence  it  as  a  subjugation  of  the  flesh,  and  if  the 
missionary  and  his  wife  carried  out  the  ascetic  life  as  Hindus 
understand  it,  lived  in  a  hut,  half  or  wholly  naked,  sought  no 
food  but  what  was  given  them,  and  suffered  daily  some  visiUe 
physical  pun.  they  might  stir  up  the  reverence  whkh  the  Hhidtt 
pays  to  those  who  are  palpably  superior  to  human  needs.  But 
in  their  eyes  there  is  no  asceticism  in  the  life  of  the  mean 
v^iite,  tiK  Eurasian  writer,  or  the  Portuguese  clerk,  but  only 
a  squalor  unbecoming  a  teacher,  and  me  who  professes  ai^ 
must  profess  scholarly  cultivation.  .  .  .  The  cheap  mission- 
aries will  have  absolutely  no  special  result  to  encourage  them 
to  persevere.  A  missionary  is  not  made  more  efficient  by  behig 
sacrificed  every  day  with  the  squalid  troubles  of  extreme  poverty, 
and  the  notion  that  his  low  position  will  bring  him  closer  to 
the  natives  is  the  merest  dehision.    The  white  missionary  is 
not  separated  fnmi  the  Indian  by  this  means,  but  by  his  colour 
and  the  difference  produced  by  a  thousand  years  of  di£Fering 
civilisation,  which  the  word  colour  implies.   He  is  a  European; 
those  to  whom  he  preadws  are  Asiatics;  tn  prtMMt  <rf  tint 
distinctioa  all  others  are  net  only  triml  but  '"ifrrfi^^tlMf  Hm 


CHRISnANITV  AND  THE  NATIONS 


eflFect  of  the  cheap  missionary  on  the  native  mrad  wffl  be  pre- 
cisely that  of  the  dear  missionary,  except  that  a«  an  unmarried 
man  he  will  be  r^arded  with  infinitely  more  suspicion  and 
dhgust  Nodiing,  in  fact,  will  be  gained  by  the  change  except 
the  privilege  of  repeating  an  experiment  which  has  bwa  nude 
half  a  dozen  times  and  has  invariably  failed." 

Christ  is  made  known  by  what  a  man  is,  and  not  by  the  mere 
style  of  his  dress  or  honw,  or  tfw  appearance  of  his  person. 
The  missionary  enterprise  aims  to  plant  the  Gospel;  for  that 
purpose  it  needs  agents;  it  needs  to  keep  them  in  health  and 
stfHigdi  of  body  and  nrind;  the  more  experience  they  have  die 
more  efficient  ihey  are.  So  much  should  be  spent  as  is  necessary 
for  these  purposes, — ^no  more  or  less.  Whatever  difficulties 
spring  from  the  comfort  of  the  missionary's  life  are  unavoidable. 
A  real  love  in  his  heart  will  overcome  all  these,  "nd  if  Christ 
is  there  small  problems  will  solve  themselves  .  nd  Christ  wiU 
speak  forth.    This  is  the  primary  missionary  method. 

Bot  if  Christ  is  really  in  a  man  He  will  speak  fortii  through 
the  man's  lips  as  well  as  through  his  life.  The  great  commission 
was  a  command  of  oral  proclamation.  The  Saviour  Himself 
was  a  teacher,  and  the  Gospel  was  spread  at  the  banning,  and 
must  be  spread  now,  by  ctMiverMtion.  New  believers  talked 
about  their  faith  to  others.  Its  missionaries  seized  all  the  oppor- 
timities  of  human  intercourse  for  the  communication  of  the  good 
news  which  they  bore.  They  feared  no  sittmtion  and  were 
equipped  to  set  forth  their  message  to  every  type  of  mind. 
"  The  unity  and  variety  native  to  the  preaching  of  Christianity 
f  r<Mn  the  very  first,"  says  Hamack,  "  were  what  constituted 
tiie  secret  of  its  fascination  and  a  vital  condition  of  its  snccess. 
On  the  one  hand,  it  was  so  simple  that  it  could  be  summed  up 
in  a  few  brief  sentences  and  understood  in  a  single  crisis  of 
the  inner  life;  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  so  versatile  and  ridi 
tlttt  it  vivified  all  thought  and  stimulated  every  emotion.  It 
was  capable,  almost  from  the  outset,  of  vying  with  every  noble 
and  worthy  enterprise,  with  any  speculation,  or  with  any  cult  of 
tiie  mysteries.  It  was  both  new  and  <dd;  it  was  bodi  present 
and  fnture.  Clear  ami  tranqMuent,  it  was  also  profonnd  and 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  $9 


Mi  of  mjnlery.  It  Ind  rtatutcs,  and  jet  rose  stqmior  to  angr 

law.  It  was  a  doctrine  and  yet  no  doctrine,  a  philosophy  and 
yet  something  different  from  philosophy."— (HAUiiuac,  "Ex- 
pulsion of  Christianity,"  Vol.  I,  p.  loa.) 

These  early  missionaries  proclaimed  tfie  fmctt  of  OuMuAtf 
and  applied  them  to  life.  The  missionaries  of  mediaeval  Europe 
followed  the  same  course.  "Their  teaching,"  says  Madear, 
"from  first  to  last  was  eminently  objective.  It  dealt  dearly 
with  the  great  facts  of  Christianity.  It  proclaimed  tfie  incarna- 
tion of  the  Saviour,  His  life,  His  death,  His  resurrection.  His 
ascension,  His  future  coming  to  judge  the  quick  and  dead,  and 
then  it  proceeded  to  treat  of  the  good  worics  whidi  ooght  to 
flow  from  the  vital  reception  of  these  Christian  truths."  Our 
apologetic  conditions,  in  the  midst  of  the  great  ethnic  religions, 
are  different  to-day,  and  they  differ  in  different  lands  and  in 
different  sections  of  the  same  people.  Before  Mohammedanism 
we  face  a  problem  unknown  to  the  Apostles  and  evaded  by  the 
mediaeval  Church,  with  one  such  shining  exception  as  Raymond 
Lull.  In  each  nation  the  mode  of  prea^ing  Christ  adapts  itsdf 
to  the  fashion  of  men's  minds,  and  on  the  other  side  it  takes 
form  from  the  experience  and  faith  of  the  preachers.  How 
great  and  intricate  is  the  problem,— so  great  and  intricate  that 
we  must  have  committed  more  error  far  than  we  dream.  "I 
for  one,"  said  Mr.  Jones,  "most  certainly  believe  that  there 
has  been  an  immense  amount  of  preaching,  which  was  done 
in  a  most  tmwise,  most  bald,  and  detrimental  way;  indeed,  so 
much  so  as  to  render  it  really  unworthy  of  being  called  the 
true  preaching  of  Christ  at  aU,— preaching  which,  if  Christ  had 
preached  on  eartii  after  His  resurrection.  He  would  have  been 
slow  to  own  as  the  preaching  of  Him;  and  tiiis  to  sodi  aa 
extent  and  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  the  name  of  Jesus  a  by- 
word among  the  heathen,  in  proportion  as  the  sound  of  it  is 
known,— a  result  not  by  any  means  arira^  solely  from  tfie  per> 
versity  of  the  natural  heart,  but  very  largely  from  the  indiscreet 
way  in  which  that  name  has  been  preached."  It  is  so  difficult 
just  becaose  it  is  so  fundamental  and  primary.  The  "Httiftnary 
enterpriie  needs  the  aUert,  moat  original,  most  ad^Hw  nea  to 


MICROCOPY  RISOUJTION  TEST  CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


90      CHRisnANiry  and  the  nations 

make  Christ  known  by  v7ord  to  tiw  non-Christian  worid.  But 
at  the  same  time  it  is  both  true  and  comfortable  to  remind  our- 
selves that  any  man  who  will  tell  the  facts  of  the  Gospel  in 
love,  who  knows  Christ  as  liis  own  Saviour  and  Lord,  and  can 
speak  out  of  his  own  htunan  heart  to  other  men's  hearts,  wiU 
be  preaching  Him.  The  human  race  is  one.  Its  unity  underlies 
all  its  varieties.  There  is  a  capacity  of  response  in  each  son 
to  his  Fatiier's  call,  and  the  man  who  truly  knows  God  in  CSirist 
and  truly  toves  his  fellow-men  cannot  preach  without  making 
Christ  known. 

The  difficulties  and  discouragements  of  preaching  Christ 
often  turn  men  aside  to  other  less  arduous  and  exacting  forms 
of  missionary  service?  No  work  is  more  intellectually  taxing 
if  rightly  done.  None  draws  so  upon  the  very  depths  of  the 
souL  Ncme  donands  more  patience  and  tenderness.  It  is  hard 
enough  when  carried  on  locally,  but  it  is  still  harder  when  it 
is  carried  on  as  Paul  carried  on  his  through  great  itineracies, 
carefully  planned  and  consecutively  followed  up.  But  whatever 
its  difficulties,  the  great  missi(Miary  method  in  tiie  past,  and  a 
method  in  which  the  missionaries  themselves  must  be  leaders 
for  many  years  yet  to  come,  is  the  Apostolic  method  of  going 
about  and  preaching  the  Gospel. '  What  such  work  still  is  Dr. 
Cust,  in  a  tender  mood,  rare  in  his  later  writings  on  missions, 
set  forth  in  an  idealised  picture  of  women's  evangelistic  work 
in  India :  "  To  the  village  women,"  wrote  he,  "  the  appearance 
of  a  fenude  evangelist  must  be,  as  it  were,  the  viskm  of  an 
angel  from  Heaven.  To  their  untutored  eyes  she  appears  taller 
in  stature,  fairer  in  face,  sweeter  in  speech  than  anything  mortal 
they  had  ever  dreamed  of  before;  bold  and  fttriess  without 
immodesty ;  pure  in  word  and  action  yet  with  features  unveiled ; 
wise,  yet  condescending  to  the  ignorant  and  little  children; 
prudent  and  self-restrained,  yet  still  a  woman  loving  and  tender 
•~sudi  as  tiiere  never  appeared  before  to  poor  village-womm, 
even  in  their  dreams,  until  suddenly  their  eyes,  their  ears,  and 
their  hearts,  seem  to  realise  faintly  and  confusedly  the  beauty 
of  Holiness,  when  they  begin  to  hold  converse,  only  too  brief, 
with  their  sweet  and  Mag  visitor,  who,  umttea  widi  fiie 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS 


wondrous  desire  to  save  souls,  has  come  across  the  sea  from 
some  unknown  eotmtty  to  ccmfort  and  help  them.  Short  as 
is  her  stay,  she  has,  as  it  were  with  a  magic  wand,  let  loose 
a  new  fountain  of  hopes,  of  fears,  and  desires:  she  has  told 
them,  perhaps  in  faltering  accents,  of  righteousness,  and  judg- 
ment, of  sin,  repentance,  and  pardon,  through  the  Messed  imrits 
of  a  Saviour.  This  day  has  salvation  come  to  this  Indkn 
village." 

The  durd  great  missionary  metiiod  is  foreshadowed  in  Paul's 
counsel  to  Timothy,  "The  words  which  thou  hast  received 
from  me,  the  same  commit  thou  to  faithful  men,  who  shall  be 
able  to  teach  others  also."  And  Paul  was  anticipated  in  this 
obvious  and  inevitable  method  by  tiie  Saviour  Himself  in  tfie 
college  of  the  Apostles,  "  the  training  of  the  Twelve."  Regard- 
ing this  kind  of  educational  work  in  missions,  there  could  be 
no  cratroversy.  Men  and  women  are  to  be  trained  to  give  the 
Gospel  to  their  own  people.  It  is  a  commonplace  to  say  that 
the  evangelisation  of  any  land  must  be  in  the  main  accomplished 
by  the  people  of  that  land.  If  there  were  to  be  but  one  mis- 
sk»ary  in  a  country,  his  b«st  worie  would  be  dom  in  n^s^ 
up  a  large  body  of  native  preachers.  He  would  have  to  do 
preaching  himself  in  order  to  make  preadiers  out  of  others,  but 
he  would  certainly  have  to  give  the  others  careful  traming. 
Such  educational  work  as  is  necesnry  to  raise  up  a  host  of 
native  preachers,  and  as  actually  accomplishes  such  a  result,  it 
an  indispensable  method  of  mission  work. 

But  the  problem  cannot  be  Inpt  in  tiiit  simple  form.  When 
a  Christian  community  has  been  formed,  its  children  will  require 
Christian  education.  They  cannot  be  left  to  grow  up  as  the 
headien  diildren  about  tiwm.  Not  all  of  tfiem  win  bcccmie  nativ« 
preachers.  A  self-supporting  Church  must  rest  on  self-support- 
ing members,  and  if  all  become  preachers,  giving  all  their  time 
to  such  work,  who  will  support  them?  A  Christian  Church 
needs  a  wide  variety  of  Chrittiaa  lc«lerdilp.  The  woric  of  dit 
Church  is  not  only  evangelisation;  it  is  the  permeation  of  life 
with  Christian  principles.  Its  members  require  the  education 
whidi  will  equip  tiMn  U»  ntdi  aervice.  Furtiiennore,  in  the 


93 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


actual  prosecution  of  the  work,  difficulties  are  encountered  which 
l^t  from  the  facts  of  the  world  and  of  history  will  dissolve; 
prejudices  are  met  which  knowledge  will  allay.  And  also  often 
our  statement  of  Christian  truth  finds  no  lodgment  for  it  in 
hardened  minds.  Young  and  plastic  minds,  kept  day  after  day 
under  Christian  teaching,  will,  it  would  seem  clear,  be  more 
likely  to  respond.  Now,  if  the  Christian  Chur'^h  in  a  given 
land  were  able  to  do  this  work,  or  if  in  part  at  least  it  were 
being  done  by  the  State  without  prejudke  to  Christianity,  to 
that  extent  foreign  missions  would  be  relieved  of  it ;  but  in  the 
nature  of  the  case  the  Church  is  not  in  existence,  or  is  but 
just  coming  into  being,  ^nd  the  State  is  likely  to  be  either  non- 
Christiaii  or  neutral,  with  a  neutrality  which  allows  hostility 
but  not  friendship  to  Christianity.  Conditions  such  as  these 
make  the  problem  of  education  as  a  missionary  method  a  far 
more  intricate  one. 

The  founders  of  our  modern  missionary  movement  viewed 
these  matters,  however,  with  good  spiritual  sense.  Let  me 
quote  again  from  the  letter  addressed  by  tl»  Presbyterian 
General  Assembly  in  1838  to  ite  first  misskMuurtes: 

We  recommend  to  your  attention  and  to  your  unceasing 
prayers  the  children  of  the  heathen.  We  are  far  from  dtJpatr- 
ine  of  the  conversion  of  adults  among  them.  Experience,  as 
well  as  the  Word  of  God,  shows  that  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  can  overcome  the  most  obstinate  hardness,  as  well  as 
the  most  inveterate  habits  of  pagan  profligacy.  And,  therefore, 
it  will  be  your  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  all  classes,  in  every 
form,  and  by  all  the  means  in  your  power.  Proclaiming  the 
Word  of  God,  by  the  living  teacher,  is  God's  own  ordinuice, 
which  ought  never  to  be  exchanged  for  any  other,  where  it  is 
possible  to  employ  it  But  still  we  consider  the  children  and 
young  people  as  pre-eminently  the  hope  of  your  missionary 
labours.  The  greater  susceptibility  of  the  youthful  mind— the 
durability  of  impressions  made  in  early  life— and  the  compara- 
tive ease  with  which  habits  are  changed  which  have  not  become 
inveterate— «U  reonnmend  diligent  and  persevering  efforts  to 
form  the  minds  of  children  and  youfli,  M  among  the  most  promi»« 
ing  and  probably  productive  departments  of  missionary  labour. 
But  this  is  not  all.   Parents  tiwmidves  are  never  more  likely 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  93 

to  be  effectually  readied  and  profited  than  through  the  medium 
of  their  children.  They  will,  of  course,  regard  with  favour 
those  whom  they  see  to  be  labouring  for  the  happiness  of  their 
offspring ;  and  when  they  see  their  children  growing  in  knowl- 
ed^  and  in  good  habits  under  the  instruction  of  the  missionaries, 
aus  win  form  a  new  bond  of  attachment  and  open  a  new  avenue 
to  their  hearts. 

We  exhort  you,  therefore,  next  to  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  to  make  the  instruction  of  heathen  youdi,  in  every  form 
which  you  may  find  practicable  and  expedient,  an  object  of  your 
constant  and  diligent  attention.  But  let  all  your  schools  and 
instructions  be  strongly  stamped  with  a  Christian  character.  Let 
the  Bible  be  everywhere  carefully  introduced.  Let  all  your 
eflforts  for  the  benefit  of  ;routh  be  consecrated  with  prayer; 
and  let  the  excellent  catechisms  of  our  Church  be  as  early  and 
as  extensively  employed  as  possible,  as  formularies  of  instruction. 
Recollect  that  it  is  our  object  to  raise  up,  as  soon  as  practicable 
among  the  heathen,  a  native  ministry.  The  attainment  of  this 
object  will  require  the  most  vigorous  efforts  to  educate  die  young; 
the  selection  of  the  most  promising  of  their  number  for  special 
auture,  and  devatiiig  the  means  of  their  instruction  as  far  as 
dremitttaiicet  will  adaut 

The  Roman  Catlwlk:  Church  has  never  faltered  in  its  wise 
policy  at  this  point.  "  This  is  one  of  the  nost  vital  works  of 
the  mission,"  writes  Mr.  Kelly  of  the  Catholic  missions  in 
China,  and  especially  of  the  work  of  Christianising  the  children: 

They  must  be  instructed  very  young,  and  taken  away  as  much 
as  possible  from  pagan  surroundings.  To  do  this  properly,  the 
schools  should  be  near  the  missionaries.  There  are  central 
sdiools  in  all  the  chief  mission  stations,  where  the  children  are 
cmipletelv  s  i>arated  fnMn  bad  influences,  and  are  Uught  to 
practise  their  religion  by  their  teachers  and  by  the  good  example 
they  see  around  them,  whereas  children  who  have  not  had 
advantage  are  recognisable  at  a  glaoee,  M  thqr  do  not  comora- 
hend  their  religion  at  all  well. 

Anodier  verv  important  consideration  is  the  following  with 
regard  to  schools.  These  are  often  found  to  be  the  most  useful 
as  a  means  of  furthering  conversions,  as  according  to  a  French 
missionary,  "  When  the  infant  comes  to  school,  his  father  will 
80«i  foOow  tte  child  to  the  church."  and  these  dear  children, 
tun  St  JMB  at  Baptist,  fill  the  vall^  and  bring  low  tlr.  moun- 


94 


CHRISTIANITy  AND  THE  NATIONS 


tains  and  hills,  by  opening  to  tiidr  parents  tiie  patii  leading  to 
our  Blessed  Saviour. 

It  is  the  business  of  the  fordgn  mission  to  see  that  in- 
struction is  provided  in  some  way  foi  Christian  children  and 
to  use  schools  tor  reaching  children  with  the  knowledge  of 
Christ.  It  is  not  the  work  of  foreign  missions  merely  to  pro- 
vide education  as  such  for  the  children  of  any  nation.  That 
is  the  business  of  the  nation  and  the  Church  in  that  nation. 
The  missionary  enterprise  should  give  the  sense  of  educational 
duty  and  the  educational  form  to  both  nation  and  Church.  It 
has  already  done  this  in  India,  Japan,  China,  and  Korea,  and 
Brazil,  and  the  Turkish  Empire.   It  is  doing  it  in  other  lands. 

And  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise  uses,  and  does  right 
to  use,  education  also  as  a  preparatory  agency  as  well,  as  a 
training  school  for  Christian^  and  as  a  method  of  evangeUsation. 
I  cannot  find  worthier  words  in  which  to  set  forth  this  view 
than  Dr.  William  Miller's  in  his  pap«-  on  "  Educational  Agndct 
in  Missimii,"  in  1893: 

The  servants  of  God  have  always  acted  (witii  more  or  less 
of  insight  into  the  meaning  of  what  they  did)  upon  the 
principle  that  subordinate  preparatory  agencies— educational 
agencies  of  different  kinds — are  to  be  employed  in  the  mighty 
task  of  bringing  mankind  to  rejoic  in  God,  revealed  in  Christ 
It  was  mainly  by  the  great  monastic  corporations,  so  long  as 
they  had  something  of  their  early  vigour,  that  Christianity 
was  maintained  and  spread  in  Europe  in  the  ages  when  the  rudt 
northern  races  were  bdog  brought  under  the  gentle  yoke  of 
Christ.  These  corporations  were  centres  of  every  kind  of  human 
activity.  Okxasionallv  connected  with  them  there  were  schoob 
and  hospitals,  orchards  and  farms,  and  warehouses.  Of  all  these 
activities  the  dominating  aim  was — ^wholly  in  point  of  theory 
and  to  some  extent  practically  as  well — ^that  thev  should  be 
means  of  opening  men's  minds  to  saving  truth  and  of  bringing 
them  within  the  Christian  fold. 

But  to  act  on  an  implicit  principle  is  one  thing:  to  bring  a 
principle  into  clear  consciousness  and  work  it  out  with  deliberate 
intent'on  is  another.  The  greatest  discoveries  are  often  no  nx>re 
at  bottom  tiuui  the  statement  and  i^Ucation  of  laws  and  prfai' 
c^plM  which  are  always  operating  in  natttrt  uid  mtkh  tf*  ntn* 


mimmmmm_ 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  BfETHODS  93 

fore,  in  die  strict  sense,  no  novelties  at  all.  Thus  it  is  only  in 
a  secondary  and  subordinate  sense  that  the  preparatory  use  of 
educational  agencies  has  any  novelty,  though  in  that  sense  it 
certpinly  has  some.  The  distinct  statement  of  the  unplidt  prin- 
ciple must  be  ascribed  to  Dr.  Inclis  of  Edinburgh,  the  Convener 
of  the  first  Committee  on  Indian  Missions  of  the  Scottish  Church. 
In  1 818,  a  good  many  years  before  his  Church  in  its  corporate 
capacity  had  entered  on  any  foreign  work.  Dr.  Inglis,  in  a  sermon 
on  a  public  occasion,  enunciated  he  principle  which  he  after- 
wards largely  helped  to  reduce  to  practice.  He  held  it  to  be 
indisputable  that— to  use  his  own  words—"  a  man  of  an  under- 
standing mind,  habituated  to  thought  and  reflection,  has  an  ad- 
vantage over  others  for  estimating  both  the  evidence  of  the 
Christian  doctrine  and  its  accommodation  to  human  wants  and 
necessities."  From  this  the  practical  inference  drawn  by  the 
preacher  was,  to  use  his  own  words  again,  that  "schools  for 
tiie  education  of  the  young,  in  every  department,  accomplish 
His  purpose  by  the  intervention  of  natural  means.  The  intrinsic 
excellence  of  the  Christian  doctrine,  and  its  accommodation  to 
our  spiritual  wants,  are,  through  EMvine  Grace,  made  obvious  to 
the  eye  of  the  mind;  Ae  prejudices  of  Ae  corrupted  heart  are 
thereby  overcome,  and  our  inclinations,  instead  of  resisting  as 
formerly  the  external  evidences  of  the  truth,  co-operate  with 
that  evidence  towards  onr  establishment  in  tiie  &tth  of  the 
Gospel." 

The  principles  indicated  in  tiiese  quotations  are  the  principles 
on  which  the  educational  mission  work  of  the  Scottish  Church 
has  always  proceeded,  and  still  proceeds.  Both  in  its  theory 
and  Its  practice,  that  Church  maintains  that  while  the  simple 
presentation  of  the  message  of  forgiveness  and  love  through 
the  cross  of  Chnst  is  the  highest  form  of  Christian  effort  and 
the  central  means  of  building  up  the  Church,  there  is  yet,  accord- 
ing to  the  divine  plan,  both  room  and  need  for  humbler  agencies 
to  work  in  auxiliary  subordination  to  it  That  Church's  aim 
has  been  through  study  of  God's  ordinary  methods  of  procedure 
to  become  an  instrument  in  making  them  effectual— to  lay  her- 
self a  ong  the  line  of  the  divine  purpose,  and,  seeking  no  glory 
for  herself,  to  do  intentionally,  and  therefore  more  rapi^y.  a 
work  that  must  be  done  somehow  if  the  divine  pnrpMes  are 
to  be  fully  carried  out  in  any  land  or  among  any  race.  These 
7V  of  the  Committee  of  the  Scottish  Church  for 

Indian  Missions  which  was  formed  in  1825,  with  Dr.  Inglis  at 

!5  S       i*!.**  Committee  to  "the  peoole 

of  Scotland,"  thm  aigntfcant  woidt  occur:  "UtTSt^ 


96         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

inferred  from  our  having  said  so  much  about  sdiools  and  other 
seminaries  of  education,  that  we  for  a  moment  lose  sight  o:  the 
more  direct  means  of  accomplishing  our  object,  by  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen  world.  .  .  .  It  is  in  subserviency 
to  the  success  of  preadung  that  we  would,  in  this  case,  devote 
our  bbour  to  tiie  education  of  llie  youi^;." 

And  the  use  of  education  as  a  missior    /  agency  is  firmly 
supported  on  even  more  general  ground^      ^le  report  on  edu- 
cation presented  to  the  Shanghai  Cent   -17  Missionary  Con- 
ference declared :  "  When  we  reflect  that  there  is  a  Gospel  of 
creation,  and  a  Gospel  of  the  divine  government  of  the  world, 
as  wdl  as  a  Gospd  of  redenq>tion,  we  see  that  the  found- 
mg  of  the  school  and  college  is  a  necessary  duty  of  the 
missionary.    In  later  years,  since  men's  conceptions  as  iie 
function  of  the  Christian  Church  in  the  world  have  been  en- 
laiged,  we  understand  that  we  are  not  only  working  for 
the  salvation  of  separate  individuals,  but  for  society  as  a 
whole.   Our  great  ideal  is  the  establishment  of  the  Kingdnn 
of  God  upon  earth.   We  aim  at  influencing  all  the  strata  of 
sodety.    Christianity  is  to  save  the  world  and  to  bring  all 
human  relationships,  political,  social,  commercial,  and  industrial 
into  harmony  with  the  laws  of  God.    The  imparting  of  an 
enlightaied  and  Christian  education  is  one  of  the  great  means 
for  the  accomplishment  of  this  end."    And  in  the  memorial 
to  the  home  Church  the  conference  justly  declared :  "  The  success 
of  such  institutioiis  (missioa  tdxxds  and  colleges)  win  have 
to  be  measured  not  simply  by  the  number  of  pupils  that  are 
baptised  in  the  course  of  each  year,  but  by  the  measure  of  our 
own  unhesitatmg  confidence  of  faith  that  such  work  is  of  itsdf, 
and  widxmt  rtgurd  to  results  that  can  be  tabulated  in  terms  of 
Church  membership,  a  work  '  worthy  of  God.'  We  must  believe 
earnestly,"  the  memorial  continues,  "that  no  labours  done  on 
such  lines  for  His  glory  by  those  wh«n  He  Hhnsdf  caOt  to 
such  service  will  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord;  for  the  revealing  of 
the  wonders  of  His  ways,  whether  in  the  realms  of  nature, 
of  history,  of  science,  or  of  grace  and  redemption,  is,  in  truth, 
all  one  work,  and  it  it  constantly  so  represented  in  the  Kbli.** 


THE  msSIOHARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  97 


I  venture,  however,  to  raise  Ae  qoestim  whether  these  statements 

do  not  mingle  the  work  of  the  Christian  state,  of  the  Christaa 
Church,  and  of  the  foreign  mission.  The  Centenary  Conference 
recognises  some  (fistiiKtion,  for  its  memorial  proceeds:  "We 
freely  and  entirely  recognise  that  tiw  wmic  of  national  ediication 
in  China  cannot  possibly  be  undertaken  by  missions,  but  must  be 
oirried  out  by  the  Chinese  themselves."  The  business  of  the  mis- 
skms  is  to  give  ra^Mration  and  to  set  models.  But  tiiey  are  to  do 
so,  we  must  maintain,  under  the  dominating  aim  of  foreign 
missions.  That  aim  was  clearly  and  unflinchingly  defined  by 
the  Deputation  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  to  India  in 
1891  in  these  words :  "  We  must  by  it  down  as  a  principle  tiiat 
the  one  absorbing  aim  in  all  real  mission  work  is  to  bring  our 
fellow-men  to  know  Jesus  Christ  to  be  their  Saviov  •,  and  to 
imfess  their  faitii  in  Him  in  ta^tism.  The  mission  vork  of 
the  Church  is  done  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  the  Lord, 
'Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations,  baptising  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost'  Every 
missicm,  and  all  misdon  metiwds,  must  in  the  cad  stdmit  to 
this  test.  Therefore,  in  discussing  the  mission  value  of  educa- 
tionsO  missions,  we  must  put  aside  all  arguments  drawn  from 
til*,  <  *  humanitarian  and  civilising  ideas.  These  are  wel- 
cop  paniments,  but,  after  all,  the  question  is— Is  all 

this  fc.  ^t^aual  work  calculated  to  draw  men  to  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ  ai<  their  Saviour,  and  to  a  profession  of  that  faith  in 
baptism?" 

There  are  those  who  say  that  it  has  not  had  tiiis  rendt 
General  Booth  is  emphatic  in  his  condemnation.  "But  it  is 
said,"  he  dedares,  "  we  must  educate  the  people  in  order  that 
they  may  read  their  Bibles.  But  alas!  in  teaching  diem  to 
read  their  Bibles  you  have  enabled  them  to  read  the  works  of 
imbelievers  and  doubters  which  you  meet  in  so-called  Christian 
literature.  I  have  an  m^mrion  tl»t  for  every  <me,  dirot^ 
his  boasted  education,  is  to-day  reading  his  Bible,  a  hundred 
are  lost  to  all  regard  of  God  and  religion.  I  believe  thoroughly 
Md  say  ddftmMy  that  so  far  as  the  salvation  of  souls  is 
CBacwaad,  tha  Christiaa  Chnrdi  in  India  has  by  her  cottifM 


98         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

and  sdiools  done  more  harm  than  good."  That  is  one  witness 
against  a  thousand.  Neither  schools  nor  preachings  have  yielded 
the  longed-for  results,  but  so  far  as  the  high  castes  are  con- 
cerned, what  converts  there  are  have  been  won  tiiroi^  tiie 
scluxds,  and  of  India  as  a  whole  it  is  maintained  by  those  who 
know,  that  whether  we  have  in  view  the  primary  aim  or  the 
ultimate  results  of  missionary  work,  Christ  has  been  most  deeply 
and  most  widely  made  known  through  tiie  achoi^ 

Nevertheless,  it  is  as  earnestly  maintained  by  those  in  the 
schools,  as  well  as  by  those  out  of  them,  that  the  great  need 
of  mission  work  in  India  is  such  an  enlarged  equipment  and 
such  a  reorganisation  as  will  make  the  missionary  aim  actually 
dominating  and  sovereign.  All  missionary  education  should  be 
uncompromisingly  and  pervasively  Christian.  That  will  mean 
that  it  will  be  honest  as  educational  work,  Iht  best  and  moet 
thorough  educational  work  that  can  be  given,  and  that  it  will 
be  adapted  to  the  conditions  in  which  it  is  given,  making  men 
leaders  of  their  own  people  and  not  denatkmalised  and  forcdess 
co^ta  of  foreign  tdcab.  Whatever  may  be  the  final  judgment 
to  be  pronounced  upon  the  policy  of  English  education  estab- 
lished in  India  as  the  consequence  of  Duff's  influence  and 
Macantay's  minute,  a  p(dtcy  of  whidi  Sir  Henry  Craik,  Secrelary 
of  the  Scotch  Education  Department  for  many  years,  wrote 
in  1908,  after  a  study  of  the  Indian  schools :  "  In  thinking 
that  in  its  main  lines  it  is  hopelessly  wrong,  I  am  only  repeating 
the  <^inion  expressed  to  me  universally  by  all  the  wisest  Anglo- 
Indians  and  natives  whom  I  have  seen,  and  impressed  on  me 
by  my  own  experience.  I  can  only  describe  that  impression 
by  saying  that  there  is  a  sort  of  mildew  lying  over  tiie  work," — 
(Punjab  Mission  News,  February  20,  1908,  p.  4)— missions 
in  all  lands  should  avoid  in  their  educational  work  the  loss  of 
their  nationalistic  purpose  to  make  Christianity  at  home  in  the 
language  and  natural  genius  of  each  people,  as  well  as  the  loss 
of  their  primary  aim  to  make  Christ  known  to  men  in  order  to 
win  men  to  Christ's  faith  and  Christ's  service. 

Those  philanthrc^Mes  and  humane  services  by  whidi  tf»e 
S^rit  of  Chrirt  in  men  it  sure  to  utter  itadf  constitute  the 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  99 

feortfi  method  of  the  fordgn  inissitnL   These  expressions  of 
the  Christian  Spirit  are  irrqtressflde,  and  tiwy  are  douacterittk. 
Whether  medical  missions  and  charitable  activities  are  proper 
agencies  of  the  missionary  enterprise  are  senseless  questions. 
They  cannot  be  prevented.  If  missionaries  see  widows  burned 
and  children  slaughtered  and  villages  ravaged  in  slave  raids, 
and  famine  orphans  and  Christ's  sheep  scattered  abroad  and 
suffering  with  no  man  caring,  they  are  going  to  care,  and 
agitation  and  action  are  as  certain  as  the  love  of  Christ  And 
such  services  are  themselves  manifestations  of  Christ  They  are 
original  to  Christianity.    The  non-Christian  peoples  recognise 
Hbk.  •*  There  is  plenty  of  scope  for  active  work,"  said  the  lead- 
ing social  reform  paper  of  Madras,  "not  ody  for  poiicanen, 
but  for  earnest  men  and  women,  o*  course  among  Christians. 
Our  countrymen  must  pardon  us  for  this  piece  of  plain  speak- 
ing, as  they  have  never  shown  the  least  anxiety  to  reclaim  the 
fallen.  For  '  once  fallen,  always  fallen '  would  appear  to  be  their 
raa3dxtt."—{Qaoted  by  Slater,  "Missions  and  Sociology,"  p. 
34-)   All  pure  unselfishness  preaches  Christ  Indeed,  it  is  the 
only  way  He  can  be  preached.   No  words  can  speak  Christ 
to  men  as  wcrds  can  speak  Him  when  pictured  also  in  deeds. 
Many  of  the  non-Christian  peoples  are  kindergarten  peoples 
and  need  to  be  taught  by  object  lessons.  Acts  must  put  content 
into  words  for  them.   The  love  of  Christ  must  be  interpreted 
to  them  by  the  vision  of  a  man  in  whom  Christ  it  tovi^ 
them. 

But  universal  charity  is  not  the  aim  of  the  foreign  missionary 

movement  It  cannot  heal  or  feed  the  worid  any  more  than  it 
can  educate  it  and  it  is  not  its  business  to  try  to  do  so.  All 
tiiat  tiie  Oiurdi  is  giving  or  would  need  to  give  to  discharge 
its  distinctive  foreign  mission  work  would  not  suffice  to  meet 
the  physical  sufferings  of  the  Yangtse  valley  or  to  educate 
Bengal.  The  philanthropic  work  of  missions  is  to  be  subjected 
to  its  aim,  just  as  aU  other  methods,  (i)  The  business  of  each 
missionary  in  his  life  and  of  each  mission  in  its  policy  is  to 
make  Christ  known.  He  and  it  are  to  do  such  loving  deeds 
as  win  effect  Ois,  and  u  tfwy  caamrt  help  dring  if  Christ  be 


100       CHUSTIANnY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


k  tfaaa.  There  win  be  dUfeiHie  of  ^iew  amoiy  than  at  to 
what  tiiis  imrahtt.  Onid  HSTs  file  revctb  one  of  theae: 

Last  evening  I  had  a  conversation  with  on  the  mSh 

iect  of  chanty.  His  views  differ  widely  from  mine,  though  we 
botfi  bdieve  raat  we  are  following  our  Lord.  He  sees  the  evils 
which  have  arisen  from  distribution  of  charity  to  be  so  great 
that,  unless  in  cases  of  actual  starvation,  he  would  refuse  to 
give,  and  even  then  in  a  manner  disconnected  as  far  as  possible 
trooi  evaagdistic  work.  The  history  of  missionary  work  in 
China,  and  the  East  generally,  he  thinks  is  so  strongly  corrobora- 
tive of  this  view,  that  he  would  hold  it  as  simply  ruinous  to  go  in 
for  any  large  and  widespread  plan  of  benevolence  in  connection 
with  the  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel.  In  favour  of  this  view 
he  quotes  the  life  of  our  Lord.  Twice  only,  he  says,  did  He 
give  supplies  of  food,  and  after  one  of  these  distributions  refused 
to  repeat  the  act  because  of  the  impurity  of  the  motives  of  those 
professedly  seeking  His  instruction.  With  the  affluence  of  divine 
power  at  His  diqwsal,  he  asks  why  but  tfwae  two  times?  aetSag 
then  were  so  many  thousands  of  poor  atoond. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  this  view  is  strangely  out  of  accord 
with  my  reading  of  our  Lord's  life.  Its  fundamental  principle, 
its  Alpha  and  Omega,  was  sacrifice  for  others,  and  that  not  only 
of  preaching  time,  hours  of  study,  etc,  but  of  comforts  and 
enjoyments.  Given  a  poverty  like  that  of  our  Lord,  Who  had 
not  whtrt  to  lay  His  head,  I  can  understand  the  limitation  of 
charity  distribution  to  a  few  isolated  instances.  But  where  all 
one's  surroundings  are  so  comfortable,  and  where  hundreds 
around  are  so  wretched,  I  can  no  more  conceive  of  our  Lord's 
living  so  than  I  can  conceive  of  His  abd^ting  His  tiuooe  and 
disowning  His  cause.  .  .  . 

How  He  healed  the  sick !  "  But,"  inquired  ,  "  did  He 

ever  heal  them  irrespective  of  their  moral  preparedness  for  His 
teaching?"  I  asked  what  meant  His  teaching  about  the  Good 
Samaritan,  and  I  might  add  His  requirement  to  love  and  do 
good  even  to  our  enemies,— not  only  those  in  suffering,  but  our 
enemies  even.  But  holding  views  which  mean  universal  love, 
the  loving  one's  neighbor  as  oneself,  implies  on  tiie  part  of  a 
single  R  an  no  heavy  encumbrance  of  wealth,  for  he  has  no  chil- 
dren to  provide  for  and  no  reracmstbility  on  that  score.  This 
free,  full  outpouring  of  himself  is  the  only  consistent  course 
for  one  so  situated,  and  this  honestly  done,  it  seems  to  me,  will 
tell  not  against  but  for  the  Kingdom  of  God,— if  Christianity 
meaaa  anything  at  alL  Lookiaf  at  the  whob  iiA|«et»  aot  ia 


i 


TBI  MBSIONAIY  AIM  AND  METHODS  lOi 

die  brief  coarse  of  a  few  months  or  years,  but  judging  of  it  in 
the  light  of  eternity,  and  of  the  Spirit  of  Life  and  Triumph  of 

Jesus,  I  see^  yety  differently  from  ,  and  shall  be  judged 

for  nty  oonvietioM  as  be  for  his. 

Each  nan  m«iat  do  wliat  he  bdieves  to  be  r%ht  in  the  1^ 

of  the  supreme  missionary  aim.  He  mu^t  show  fortn  Christ, 
(a)  In  the  second  place,  Christ  is  to  be  made  known  for  the 
winning  of  men  to  Christian  discipleship.  Our  philanthropic 
work,  accordini^,  must  be  directed  to  this  end.  Ho^ttals.  rdief 
work,  orphanages,  moral  reform  should  be  openly  in  Christ's 
name  and  should  be  foL'owed  up  so  that  their  fruitage  may  be 
gatiiered  into  tfw  Christian  fdd.  (3)  And  in  tiie  tiiird  place, 
all  such  work  must  have  in  view  the  naturalisation  of  Chris- 
tianity, not  the  parasitical  dependence  of  the  people  up^^n  charity 
from  without.  Our  Lord  did  not  go  about  as  a  mere  healer, 
nor  even  predominancy  as  a  pl^anttropist  In  notiung  is  His 
divine  wisdom  and  self-restraint  more  clearly  seen  than  in  His 
refusal  to  become  simply  the  philanthropist,  feeding  all  hunger, 
aboKdiing  all  need.  Pktd  seems  purposely  to  lave  avowed 
lA  miracle-working  and  personal  charity.  The  Saviour's  pur- 
pose and  Paul's  was  not  to  meet  the  {/assing  physicr  leed  of 
one  century,  but  to  plant  in  the  world  the  eternal  life  Chris- 
ttaaity,  Aose  Uving  prmcqilet  n^udi  wotdd  lead  eadi  eentniy 
to  meet  its  own  needs.  The  energies  by  which  St.  Paul  natural- 
ised Christianity  throughout  the  Rortu.-  Empire  nir;ht  lave  been 
exhausted  in  die  effort  to  cope  witt.  i!M  ylty^cal  evils  of  tt» 
one  city  of  Antioch.  He  had  a  greater  woric  to  do  and  was 
strong  enough  not  to  sacrifice  the  best  on  the  altar  of  a  good. 
The  aim  of  foreign  missions  is  not  to  care  for  all  the  industrial, 
wocM,  cooaoatc  and  frfiytieal  iOs  of  tfw  non-Christian  wwU, 
bat  to  idant  there  the  living  seeds  of  the  Gospel  of  the  incarnate 
God.  That  Gospel  is  to  be  the  healing  of  the  world  in  God's 
own  day.  Foreign  ndssicms  will  have  passed  away  long  before 
dawning  of  that  day. 

Beside  these  four  great  methods  of  which  I  have  spoken, 
theit  are  others,  as  many  as  men  can  devise  and  as  conditions 
demand,  tBi6sdf  legHimate,  urgently  demanded,  requiring  only 


los        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


that  they  minister  to  the  missionary  aim,— the  circulation  of  the 
Scriptures  and  Christian  literature,  the  translation  of  good  books, 
espcdally  home  reading  books  and  educational  text-books,  the 
establishment  of  medical  schools,  the  cultivation  of  new  indus- 
tries and  the  improvement  of  old,  and  many  more,  but  any  of 
these  are  not  i^n^>riate  activities  of  foreign  missions  if  thqr 
do  not  make  Christ  known  as  the  Saviour  and  Lord  of  Ufe, 
or  if  they  make  men  dependent  instead  of  free. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  as  we  work  out  this  aim,  we  shall  come 
upon  situations  where  its  attainment  will  be  delayed.  A 
co-operative  assistance,  or  even  guidance,  may  be  required  for 
a  long  time,  and  it  may  be  found  that  this  help  can  be  given 
better  throt^  the  continuance  of  the  foreign  misskmary  enter- 
prise as  such  than  by  any  new  arrangement.  In  some  lands  the 
absence  of  religious  liberty,  or  the  presence  of  social  or  political 
conditions  which  stifle  the  independent  influence  of  the  new 
Churches,  or  the  skm  growth  of  &t  number  of  Christians,  or 
their  slow  development  in  Christian  character,  may  make  both 
the  realisation  and  also  the  clear  discernment  of  the  true  aim 
difficult.  But  there  are  always  perplexities  surrounding  high 
and  distinct  aims,  and  we  shall  be  hindered  and  not  helped 
the  work  of  missions  if  we  have"  no  clear  aim,  or  if,  hav- 
ing one,  we  >uae  sight  of  it  because  at  times  it  seems  merely 
theoretical. 

In  pursuing  the  missionary  aim  and  adapting  methods  thereto, 
three  great  sets  of  problems  arise.  First,  in  offering  to  men 
the  revelation  and  life  of  God  in  Christ  we  meet  their  own 
religious  conceptions.  Are  these  not  already  adequate,  many 
ask  us?  If  not,  what  is  the  true  attitude  of  the  witness  of 
Christianity  to  these  other  religions?  Second,  these  people  have 
tiieir  own  social  and  political  institutions;  missionaries  who  go 
out  to  them  go  as  citizens  of  foreign  governments  and  represent- 
atives of  other  ideals.  What  is  to  be  the  relation  of  the  preachers 
of  the  new  religion  to  the  governments  from  which  they  come 
and  to  the  governments  to  which  ttey  go?  How  is  the  new 
religion  to  relate  itself  to  the  organised  life  of  the  people  to 
whom  it  is  offered?  How  are  its  new  adherents  to  meet  the 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  103 

inevitable  consequences  of  their  new  situation?  And  thirdly, 
Christianity  is  not  pure  individualism.  It  is  a  corporate  relation- 
riup.  Men  mho  oone  to  Christ  come  into  Christ  and  into  a 
united  life  with  all  who  are  Christ's.  They  are  members  of 
His  body.  And  that  body  has  a  visible  form,  confused  and 
iiiq>erfect,  but  necessary.  Those  who  are  won  as  Christ's  dis- 
ciples must  be  organised  into  Churches  for  the  confirmation  of 
their  own  faith,  for  the  enlargement  of  their  own  knowledge, 
for  the  sake  of  hunuui  service,  in  order  that  Christianity  may 
be  made  ind^ienous  and  enduring  in  the  life  of  the  nation. 
What  should  be  our  ideals  for  such  a  Church?  How  is  it  to 
be  established?  What  shall  be  its  fundamental  moral  and  spirit- 
ual standards,  what  its  essential  characteristics,  what  its  rela- 
tions to  the  missionaries  who  founded  it  and  the  Churdies  fnm 
which  they  came  forth?  What  are  to  be  the  responsibilities 
of  these  new  Churches  toward  their  nations,  and  how  are  they 
to  be  truly  set  each  in  its  own  natimial  life?  These  three  great 
sets  of  probtems  we  are  to  consider  septntdy,  and  in 
reverse  order. 

The  judgments  we  shall  form  regarding  them,  however,  will 
&tptad  ca  whether  or  not  we  are  prepared  to  accept  tiie  oon> 
ception  of  the  aim  of  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise  main- 
tained here.  Some  will  take  exception  to  this  conception  as 
too  broad,  others  as  too  narrow.  There  are  some  who  hold 
that  the  one  business  of  missions  is  the  oral  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  that  no  institutions  are  legitimate,  save  churches  and 
chapels,  that  we  are  to  bear  our  witness  to  the  facts  of  the 
Goq>d  and  pass  on.  Otfiers  will  altow  for  patient  rdteration 
and  repeated  itineration,  but  the  one  allowable  agency,  they  hold, 
is  preaching  to  companies  or  to  individuals  with  a  view  to  the 
coni-ersion  of  men.  On  the  other  hand,  are  those  who  hold 
that  the  view  we  have  taken  is  far  too  narrow,  that  the  barest 
of  missions  is  to  Christianise  the  world,  that  national  conversion 
is  more  important  than  individual  conversion.  Dr.  Timothy 
Ridiard  has  been  am  of  tfw  most  doquent  advocates  of  tiris 
larger  view  of  missionary  policy.  His  thought  is  that  we  should 
transfer  the  emphasis  f nnn  trying  to  convert  individual  China* 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


men  by  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  should  grasp  the  present  op> 
portunity  to  reform  the  Empire  by  larger  mettiods. 

After  over  sixty  yeais'  experience  [he  wrote  shortly  after 
the  Boxer  troubles  had  subsided]  missionaries  have  discovered 
that  there  is  a  way  of  influencing  the  millions  of  China  throu^ 
the  Government,  through  the  leading  Viceroys  and  Governors, 
and  through  the  gentry  and  students  which  has  no  parallel  in 
any  other  part  of  the  world,  viz.,  by  systematic  distribution  of 
carefully  prepared  literature  and  frequent  communication  with 
the  authorities.  The  marvellous  effect  of  our  literature  is  known 
to  you,  the  influence  of  frequent  telegraphic  communication  witfi 
the  central  Government,  Viceroys,  and  Governors  by  competent 
and  experienced  persons  is  also  enormous.  But  this  latest  phase 
of  influencing  these  involves  occasional  use  of  scientific  instru- 
ments, like  the  cinematograph,  wireless  telegraphy,  illustrat«l 
books,  etc.,  etc.,  to  give  an  idea  of  everv  phase  of  Christian 
progress  throughout  the  world.  The  "  Gunboat  policy  "  produces 
fear  and  suspicion  and  the  awful  catastrophes  of  last  year,  while 
this  friendlpr,  personal  intercourse  produces  love  and  confidence, 
a  great  desire  for  reform  and  regeneration,  and  f edings  of  good- 
will to  all  the  world. 

The  old  methods  of  mission  work  aimed  at  influencing  a 
village  or  a  town  or  at  most  comparatively  few  towns  by  each 
mission  on  the  model  of  home  work.  But  this  method  aims  at 
nothing  less  than  influencing  every  town  and  village  throu^out 
the  Empire,  not  by  placing  a  foreign  missionary  in  every  place 
(a  plan  which  usually  excites  the  natural  opposition  of  the 
Chinese  much  more  than  placing  an  Italian  priest  in  every  town 
in  England  would),  but  by  enlisting  the  sympatiiy  of  tiw  Uiineac 
themselves  with  Christian  princiMes,  which  save  and  ennoble 
individuals  and  nations,  so  that  they  themselves  may  carry  the 
message  enthusiastically  to  their  fellow-countrymen,  and  establish 
schools,  colleges,  and  churches.  We  have  seen  it  work  marvel- 
lously already  on  a  limited  scale,  but  we  want  to  extend  it  ao 
as  to  embrace  every  province  tiU  the  whole  Enq^  is  wgentrittd 
on  Christian  lines. 

Great  as  the  influence  of  other  methods  hab  been,  it  is  ac- 
knowledged by  all  who  have  carefully  studied  this  method  that 
it  is  immeasurably  superior.  Moreover,  it  was  not  possible  a 
generation  ago,  it  mav  not  be  possible  a  generation  hence,  but 
It  is  possible  now.  "  Now  it  the  accepted  time,  now  is  the  day 
of  salvation  "  for  China. 

We  appeal  to  missionary  societies  individually  and  cd- 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  iqs 


lectively,  we  appeal  to  Christian  laymen  individually  and  col- 
lectively. Consider  carefully  whether  it  is  not  better  to  follow 
providential  openings  like  this  than  to  follow  old  and  compara- 
tively unsuccessful  methods  which  were  ada|^  chiefly  to  ftvmcr 
tunes  and  conditions. 

And  the  Rev.  Bernard  Lucas  has  earnestly  argued,  out  of 
a  ridi  experience  of  misskm  work  in  India,  for  a  wider  con- 
ception of  the  missionary  aim  flian  has  been  set  fortfi  liere. 
Let  me  present  his  view  in  his  own  words: 


To  tiie  dder  dieolonr,  India  was  a  ship  on  the  rocks,  ami 
the  missionai^  was  the  iifeboatman  engaged  in  the  task  of  pick- 
ing up  the  few  survivors  who  were  swept  within  his  reach, 
and  who,  if  he  failed  to  reach  them,  were  carried  away  to  eternal 
destruction.  To  the  modern  mind,  on  the  other  hand,  India  is 
a  ship  which  is  saWable,  not  on  the  rocks,  but  aground;  and 
tile  real  missionarv  enterprise  is  not  that  of  picking  up  a  few 
survivors  from  a  hopeless  wreck,  but  of  bringing  the  ship  into 
port  with  all  on  board.  There  is  sufficient  truth  in  the  illustra- 
tion to  justify  its  use  for  the  purpose  of  marking  the  contrast 
between  the  newer  and  the  <Mder  conception  of  dte  Qiuidi's 
task.  The  misskmary  who  set  off  in  his  lifeboat  has  got  on 
board,  examined  the  condition  of  the  vessel,  sounded  the  depth 
of  water  in  the  hold,  seen  the  crowded  condition  of  the  decks, 
and  been  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  lifeboat  is  inadequate 
to  the  task.  If  the  people  are  to  be  saved,  the  ship  itself  must 
be  brou^t  into  port  Above  all,  he  has  realised  that  the  people 
wUl  not  leave  the  ship.  This  last  fact  must  be  grasped  by  the 
Christian  Church  with  all  that  it  signifies,  if  its  cry  of  India  for 
Christ  is  to  have  any  real  meaning.  The  great  work  amoiurst 
the  outcaste  population  has  been  the  pressing  work  of  pickmg 
jy^oae  who  have  been  swept  overboard,  and  of  whose  welfare 
mose  who  remained  on  board  were  callously  indifferent.  We 
have  landed  them  on  sandbanks  and  desert  islands,  and  supplied 
them  with  as  much  of  our  stores  as  we  could  give,  but  the 
question  of  their  future  is  one  of  gravt  anxiety.  It  has  been 
•noWe  work,  and  worthy  of  all  the  consecrated  and  heroic  effort 
jradi  nu  bacn  spent  upon  it,  but  it  is  not  the  salvation  of  India. 
We  must  not  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  the  L.jia  we  have 
come  to  save  Is  a  ship  w  ich  is  aground ;  and  that  the  true  tadc 
which  confronts  us  is  tUt  of  getting  her  floated,  hiu  ilimMll 
tvptirad.  her  diaoffuiiscd  mw  aad^strMtad  jiiiimiiMjijui 


io6        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


ised  and  encouraged,  so  that  she  may  proceed  on  her  way  to 
the  port  to  which  she  is  bound.  Nothing  short  of  that  will 
satisfy  the  soul  of  India,  and  nothing  short  of  that  will  fulfil 
the  sacred  obligation  which  rests  upon  the  Church  of  Christ 
The  illustration  here  used  is  only  an  iUustratton,  and  its  details 
can  easily  be  criticised,  but  it  fairly  represents  the  difference 
between  the  newer  and  the  older  views  of  missionary  work,  and 
it  is  to  emphasise  that  difference  that  it  is  alone  employed.  .  .  . 

This  changed  standpoint  will  review  our  methods  in  the  light 
of  its  conception  of  me  larr;er  aim  which  it  contemplates.  It 
will  insist  that  the  true  aim  of  the  Western  Church  is  to  give 
to  India  a  deeper  religious  life,  and  not  what  it  may  conceive 
to  be  more  correct  religious  opinions;  and  it  will  demand  that 
the  lar^r  aim  shall  occupy  the  paramount  position.  It  would 
be  a  nustalM  to  suppose  that  in  thus  emphasising  the  distinction 
between  creed  and  life,  the  modern  mind  fails  to  appreciate  the 
connection  which  exists  between  the  two,  or  that  it  in  any  sense 
confounds  mere  civili^^.tion  with  that  which  in  contradistinction 
may  be  called  Christianisation.  It  distinguishes,  however,  be- 
tween thought  and  the  expression  of  thought,  between  tiie  trans- 
lation of  words  and  the  tr  .islation  of  ideas,  between  creeds  and 
the  truth  every  creed  of  necessity  limits  and  confines.  It  believes 
that  thought  can  be  and  ought  to  be  propagated;  but  it  equally 
believes  that  its  expressions  must  not  be  translated,  except  from 
the  original,  and  that  the  translation  must  invariably  be  idiomatic. 
Christian  truth  can  be  and  ought  'to  be  propagated  in  India, 
where  it  will  inevitably  produce  a  richer  and  fuller  religious  life. 
It  is  India's  supreme  need,  and  apart  from  that  truth,  her  re- 
ligious life  shows  no  sign  now,  as  it  has  shown  no  sign  for  ages, 
of  any  quickening  whatever.  Christian  truth,  however,  must  be 
left  to  find  its  own  expression;  the  translation  must  be  into 
the  vernacular  of  to-day,  not  into  the  Sanscrit  of  yesterday; 
and  it  must  be  perfectly  idiomatic.  The  task  of  the  Western 
Church,  a  task  for  whicn  it  has  been  destined  bv  the  providence 
of  God,  and  for  which  it  is  not  yet  fully  qualified,  is  to  propagate 
Christian  thought  in  terms  of  life-value.  To  tLat  task  everything 
must  be  subordinated,  and  to  its  successful  accomplishment  afl 
ottT  uriMiMMity  m^lMds  should  be  devised. 

^d  in  a  review  of  Bishop  Uylnt't  "  Missions  to  Hindus," 
Mr.  Lucas  tiptakM  even  more  jdahily: 

It  is  probably  too  much  to  hope  for  at  presrnt,  but  the  time 
will  <k)ubUess  Arrive  when  what  arc  called  mission  statistics  wUl 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  107 


be  found  only  in  census  reports.  In  dealing  with  the  qualitative 
results.  Dr.  Mylne  limits  his  survey  to  the  Indian  Christian 
community,  and  seems  hardly  to  reco^ise  what  in  many  respects 
are  the  far  more  si^ificant  resrlts  in  the  changed  thought  and 
feeling  of  the  nation  as  a  whole.  This  is  a  very  serious  defect 
in  the  book,  and  it  h  more  serious  because  it  reveals  a  failure 
on  his  part  to  recognise  the  woiicing  of  tiie  Spirit  outside  all 
ecclesiastical  organisations.  Apparendy  no  work  which  does  not 
bring  definite  results,  in  the  shape  of  additions  to  fhe  Christian 
oonrnmnity,  is  worthy  of  consideration  in  the  discussion  of  mis- 
sknary  methods.  That  this  is  no  unfair  criticism  of  his  position 
may  be  seen  by  the  estimate  he  foim?  of  the  strictly  educational 
mission,  which,  he  distinctly  tells  us,  "  has  had  its  day  and  done 
its  work."  His  chapter  on  Educational  Missions  is  vitiated 
throughout  by  this  failure  to  recognise  any  other  results  tiian 
those  of  additions  to  the  Church.  The  real  fact  is  that  in  the 
greater  task  of  bringing  India  to  Christ,  as  contrasted  with  the 
very  much  smaller  one  of  gaining  converts,  there  is  no  method 
which  has  had  a  greater  result  than  education,  and  missionary 
education  in  particular.  It  is  the  laiger  and  not  die  smaller 
aim  which  should  dominate  missionary  policy,  and  in  proportion 
as  that  larger  aim  influences  our  missionarv  methods  will  the 
coming  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  India  be'  hasteBed.->(L.  M. 
S.  Chronicle,  July,  1908.) 

On  the  general  question  involved,  I  venture  to  make  severd 
remarks,  observing  first  that  these  views  have  their  own  truth 
but  appttr  to  us  to  commingte  the  aim  of  missions  with  the  total 
purposes  of  Christianity. 

I.  To  spread  what  we  know  as  Chn  tian  c;  Uisatijn  over 
the  world  is  not  the  aim  of  foreign  missions,  nor  is  it  an  ade- 
quate aim  for  the  Christiui  Church  to  cherish  for  her  misskm 
to  the  world.  Christian  civilisation  owes  what  is  good  in  it 
to  Christianity,  but  that  civilisation  is  distinctly  Occidental,  not 
untvenal,  and  it  is  seamed  with  evil.  It  is  an  open  question 
whether,  apftrt  fram  its  distinctly  Christian  elementi,  it  htt  not 
done  more  harm  than  good  to  the  non-Christian  people.— (Cw, 
"  Mission  Methods,"  p.  96.}  And  if  so,  we  had  better  devote 
our  hir  too  inadequate  resources  in  the  mlstioRary  movement  to 
carrying  to  the  worid  that  knowledge  of  Christ  in  which  is  no  ele- 
ment of  evil  and  which  will  meio  life  and  not  detdi  to  the  worid. 


io8        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

2.  The  conversion  of  a  nation  does  mean  more  than  the  con- 
version of  the  individuals  composing  the  nation,  but  it  cannot 
mean  less  than  dw  conversion  of  some  of  these  indivklnalt, 
and  the  real  conversion  of  any  nation  would  mean  the  devotion 
of  all  its  life  and  of  all  its  lives  to  God.  That  will  be  the 
ultimate  result  of  missionary  effort,  but  long  before  tint  resoH 
will  have  been  attained,  foreign  missions  will  have  ceased.  In* 
deed,  the  condition  of  our  home  lands  raises  in  our  minds 
the  question  whether  that  result  will  be  reached  until  the  prom- 
ised return  of  our  Lord  and  Savionr  Jesns  Christ  from  Heaven. 
I  do  not  believe  that  it  will.  Neither  Scotland  nor  America 
holds  out  the  faintest  hope  that  it  can.  But  even  if  that  result 
is  to  be  attained  now  by  us,  it  is  not  the  responsibility  of  foreign 
missions  to  attain  it  It  is  the  work  of  the  Christian  Church, 
which  it  is  the  business  of  missions  to  found  and  to  which  it  must 
give  ideals.  The  Church  is  to  bear  the  burden  of  national 
Christiantsation.  Of  course,  when  tiie  mission  is  doing  tiie  w<^ 
of  the  Church,  as  it  must  when  the  Church  is  just  banning, 
as  it  must  not  beyond  a  certain  limit  and  after  tiie  Church  has 
begun,  then  the  responsibility  of  the  Church  may  be  confessedly 
taken  over  by  tiie  mis^.  But  tiiat  is  just  tlw  evil  from  which 
Oiristianity  in  some  lands  is  suffering.  There  is  no  great  in- 
di^ous  Church,  and  there  is  not  likely  to  be  one  so  long  as  the 
missions  forget  their  aim  and  dvty  to  create  one,  and  cover  over 
their  failure  by  undertaking  to  do  tiienisdvtt  tiie  woric  of  Htm 
Church. 

3.  Where  the  aim  ui  missions  is  hard  of  realisation,  as  it  is 
in  India,  in  no  small  meatttre  became  tiie  ostracism  of  caste  hat 
denationalised  the  Christian  constituency  and  the  dependent 
political  life  of  the  nation  has  depressed  and  stifled  the  indigencmt 
Christian  life,  the  work  of  the  mission  will  inevitably  take  on  the 
permanent  duracter  of  die  work  of  the  Church,  all  die  mure 
because  the  people  are  so  poor  and  missions  seek  to  carry  them 
forward  in  one  century  over  the  development  which  with  the 
West  covered  from  tea  to  twaty.  We  must  n»ke  afk>wattce 
for  this,  and  stretch  our  mcdiods  perhaps  beyond  our  aim, 
but  we  must  not  abandon  our  aim,  nm>  f  or  one  moment  ceaat 


THE  MISSIONARY  AIM  AND  METHODS  109 

seddng  to  realise  it.  We  may  carry  on  work  which  does  not 
acttially  realise  it,  and  justify  our  doing  so  on  the  ground  of 
the  good  which  we  are  accomplishtng  and  the  preputtkm  we 
are  making  for  a  future  larger  good,  and  be  fully  warranted  in 
this  view,  but  I  do  not  believe  that  we  are  justified  in  abandoning 
our  aim  or  subordinating  tiw  ideal  of  converted  men  and  an 
indigenous  Chnrch  to  the  ideal  of  a  reformed  and  eaSgfateiied 
nation. 

4.  The  issue  raised  is  the  perennial  issue  of  the  Individual 
or  the  society,  and  the  position  which  is  unhesitatingly  taken 
in  these  lectures  is  that  the  primary  aim  of  foreign  misiiaas  is 
to  reach  individuals  and  to  make  Churches  out  of  them,  and 
through  tiiese  Churches  to  redeem  the  life  of  humanity.  All 
that  can  be  done,  meanwhile,  for  society,  whkdi  will  make  Christ 
known  to  it  and  in  it,  will  be  done.  When  individuals  will  not 
be  reached,  the  enterprise  will  not  let  go.   It  will  strike  in  its 
root^  and  sap  and  mine  and  wait  An       is  effected  in  the 
amelioration  of  human  conditions,  in  the  extension  of  knowl- 
edge, in  the  softening  of  prejudice,  in  the  infiltration  of  truth 
abmit  God  and  the  world  into  the  opinions  of  nations  and  the 
phikMophies  of  rel^KMis  qrstems,  m  the  spmA  of  humra  sym- 
pathy and  the  improvement  of  international  relations,— all  the 
rich  fruitage  which  is  the  inevitable  consequence  of  living  Christ, 
of  making  Htm  known,  and  aU  of  which  b  a  sign  of  the  latger 
coining  of  the  knowledge  of  die  Son  of  Sod— in  all  this  tdtdon 
will  rejoice.   They  will  press  upon  the  world  the  duty  of  sup- 
porting them  because  of  this  fruitage,  fruitage  which  they  can 
yield  in  unequalled  parity  and  ftdness.  bat  neverthdeM  their 
aim  will  be  the  deunite  religious  aim  of  making  Christ  known 
to  all  the  world  as  the  Saviour  and  Lord  of  men,  with  a  view 
to  making  men  His  disciples,  uniting  them  in  the  life  and  min- 
istry of  the  visible  Church,  and  hi  them  and  in  that  Church 
domiciling  Christianity  in  all  the  races  of  humanity.    This  is 
the  first  stage  in  the  long  journey  toward  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  among  men.  It  is  tfw  Church's  primary  'uty,  and  bet 
noblest  privilege,  and  the  condition  of  her  power  a  d  prosperity 
at  home,  to  atten^t  to  complete  this  stage  in  our  generation. 


II- 


i 


in 

MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES 


1 


m 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES 

THE  greatest  fact  in  modern  politics  has  been  the  growth 
of  nationalism.  The  history  of  the  past  century  has 
been  tiie  history  of  tiie  arranganent  of  mtioaal  boun- 
daries, the  development  of  national  ambitions,  the  formation 
of  national  policies,  the  definition  of  national  responsibilities,  the 
sharpened  distinction  of  national  duuacters.  the  realisatioa  and 
resolute  acceptance  of  national  destinies.  With  all  the  emphasis 
which  systems  of  ethics  and  of  political  philosophy  have  gVen 
on  the  one  hand  to  the  individual,  and  on  the  other  to  humanity, 
it  remainar  true  dat  tiw  dominant  principle  of  modem  history 
has  been  the  ideal  of  nationalism. 

In  Europe,  assuredly,  as  Professor  Reinsch  has  said  in  his 
excellent  little  book  on  "  World  Politics," 

The  great  modem  development  has  been  the  principle  of  na- 
tionality. When  we  view  the  historical  development  of  the  world 
since  the  Renaissance,  we  find  that  the  one  principle  about  which 
the  wealth  of  facts  can  be  harmoniously  grouped  is  that  of 
nationaliam.  Ever  since  the  worid-state  ideab  of  Ac  BfidiSe 
.^es  were  left  behind,  this  principle  has  been  the  touchstone 
of  true  statesmanship.  The  reputation  of  a  statesman,  as  well 
aj  his  permanent  influence  on  human  affairs,  depends  on  his 
power  to  understand  and  aid  the  historical  evolution,  from  out 
die  mediaeval  chaos,  of  strotw  national  stat».  Genins  coidd  not 
countervail  this  law  of  development.  Even  Napoleon  was  un- 
successful whenever  his  policy  opposed  the  innate  strength  of 
nationalism.  As  we  enumerate  the  great  statesmen  whose  per- 
sonalities have  left  a  pennanent  impress  on  the  institutions  of 
timr  countries,  such  as  Louis  XI,  Wolsey,  Elizabeth,  Rldtdieu, 
Henry  IV,  Cromwell.  Chatham,  Cavour,  and  Bismarck,  we  find 
that  their  title  to  greatness  rests  upon  the  maimer  in  whidi  thqr 

H3 


114        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

aided  a  national  state  in  realising  its  independence  and  developing 

its  dnracter.  ^       ^     ,•  i  

Especially  during  the  nineteenth  century  has  nationaimm  been 
a  conscious  influence  in  political  life.   The  nations  tfiat,  at  its 

beginning,  had  partly  achieved  their  independent  political  exist- 
ence, have  since  been  striving  for  the  attainment  of  completely 
sdf-suffidng  life;  while  those  races  that  r^rd  themselves  as 
unjustly  held  in  bondage  by  others  have  been  engaged  in  a  stern 
struggle  to  obtain  national  independence.  Success  has  not  been 
the  equal  portion  of  the  striving  races.    Germany  and  Italy, 
which  have  most  nearly  approached  their  ideal,  are  still  looking 
yearningly  toward  the  completion  of  their  work  by  the  addition 
of  Austria  and  Trieste  to  the  national  states  to  whkh  they  re- 
spectively belong.   The  Hungarians,  whose  nationalism  is  most 
violently  enthusiastic,  have  carried  their  nativistic  policy  so  far 
as  to  destroy  the  economic  resources  of  other  parts  of  the 
Austrian  Enqnre,  as,  for  instance,  the  forests  of  Dahnatia,  in 
order  to  protect  their  own  economic  existence.  Other  races  have 
been  less  successful,  either  from  a  ladt  of  political  ^aaat  or 
from  the  overpowering  strength  of  their  political  superiors.  An 
aid  to  the  successful,  the  principle  of  nationalism  has  been  turned 
against  the  less  fortunate.  Under  its  influence  attempts  are  con- 
stantly being  made  to  force  races  like  the  Iiish,  the  Poles,  and 
the  Finns  into  unv  lling  assimilation  with  nations  ftat  ate 
politically  organised  and  superior  in  strength.  For  it  is  necessary 
to  distinguish  the  spirit  of  nationalism  from  that  of  particulansm 
ust  as  sharply  as  from  that  of  the  world  state  of  the  Middle 
Ages ;  it  does  not  look  with  favour  upon  locsd  pecuUanUes  and 
variations,  but  rather  stands  for  a  thoroughgoing  assimilation  of 
an  the  component  parts  of  the  nation.        ,  ,      .      .  . 

It  has  thus  come  about  that  the  successful  nations  have  de- 
veloped a  clearly  marked  individuality.  The  cosmopolitamsm 
of  the  Middle  Ages  and  of  the  Renaissance,  the  dreams  of  world 
unity,  have  been  replaced  by  a  set  of  narrower  national  ideals 
concerning  customs,  laws,  literature,  and  art,— by  a  community 
of  independent  states,  each  striving  to  realise  to  the  fullest  its 
hidividual  aptitudes  and  characteristics.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
infer  from  this  a  universal  reign  of  chauvinism.  The  idea  of 
the  general  solidarity  cf  mankind  is  still  strong  enough  to  restrain 
national  action  in  some  measure.  In  ordinary  bmes  there  is 
a  healthy  competition  between  the  members  of  the  international 
commonwealth.— a  competition  sharpened  by  the  knowledge  that 
temporary  weakness  may  mean  loss  of  national  existence.  McMi- 
while,  international  law  holds  a  balance  between  tfic  states  iqr 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  115 


preventing  any  of  the  stronger  members  from  tmjustly  oppress- 
ing the  smaller  civilised  nations.  Under  these  conditions,  too 
great  uniformity  of  civilisation  is  avoided,  and  humanity  is  given 
an  opportunity  to  develop  its  varying  characteristics.  Thus  the 
ideal  of  the  period  is  as  far  removed  from  the  dead  uniformity 
of  a  world  empire  on  the  one  hand,  as  it  is  on  the  other  from 
the  distracting  anarchy  of  a  regime  of  mere  local  custom.  The 
world  community  idea  of  thr  great  founders  of  international  law, 
Grotius  and  Suarez,  and  of  philosophers  of  eternal  peace,  like 
Saint-Pierre  and  Kant,  is  reconcilable  with  the  existence  of 
national  states,  if  it  is  understood  to  imply,  not  political  union, 
but  the  active  co-<^ration  of  all  nations  in  the  commcui  work 
of  mankind.— (Rbinsch,  "  Wmld  Pcditics,"  pp.  1-6.) 

This  has  been  the  political  spirit  of  the  West.  And  in  Asia, 
where  the  ideal  of  nationality  has  been  weak  partly  because 
of  tiw  racial  (Aaracter  of  the  Asiatic  ptofl^  P^xUfy  became  of 
their  religious  and  social  philosophy,  and  partly  because  their 
political  history  had  enfeebled  the  sense  of  national  identity, 
bat  diiefly  because  absolutism  had  givoi  no  room  for  the  exer- 
cise of  the  political  reason,  we  have  witnessed  in  our  own  day 
a  development  of  national  consciousness  surpassing  anything  that 
we  have  seen  in  the  West  First,  Japan  laid  aside  her  system 
of  Oriental  fetidalinn,  whidi  supfrfied  her  with  a  p(^tir 
sation  but  which  did  not  produce  a  national  consciousness  or 
give  her  any  living  national  purpose.  By  a  wisely  guided  transi- 
tion, which  preserved  the  constructive  political  elements  of  the 
ancknt  order,  Japan  passed  over  into  tlw  character  of  a  modem 
state,  with  a  definite  and  iscious  national  personality,  charged 
with  a  distinct,  sense  of  t  nal  rights  and  duties  and  a  definite 
national  mission.  With  j  pan,  Siam  by  different  processes,  and 
witii  different  consequences,  with  no  such  rupture  of  her  or- 
ganisation or  political  methods,  and  with  no  such  energy  of 
national  purpose,  but  with  placid  adaptation  as  characteristic 
of  her  histmy  as  Japan's  eager  absorption  of  tiie  new  idea  was 
in  keeping  with  Japan's  past,  took  on  the  character  of  a  Western 
national  state.  After  these,  and  with  heavy  labours,  which  are 
still  shaking  the  earth,  China  has  been  slowly  struggling  out 
of  her  old,  aatiqne  notkms  of  natkmality,  very  real  but  hnpossiMe 


ii6        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

in  a  real  world.    History  has  seen  nothing  greater  than  the 
birth  throes  of  China's  new  nationaHsm.    By  those  throes  one- 
fourth  of  the  human  race  are  coming  into  a  new  political  con- 
sciousness, and  with  it  will  claim  a  distinct  racial  destiny,  which 
we  may  well  pray  may  include  no  purpose  of  vengeance  in  the 
new  nation  for  its  antenatal  wrongs.   With  this  incomplete  but 
fast  developing  nationalism  in  China  we  are  witnessing  also  a 
struggle  whose  progress  is  more  involved  and  whose  issue  is 
more  uncertain  in  India  and  in  the  Mohammedan  lands  of 
western  Asia.    For  a  century  British  influence  in  India  has 
been  directed  to  one  end— to  unify  the  life  and  thought  of 
the  country,  and  to  school  it  to  justice  and  modem  political 
ideals.   The  best  representatives  of  Great  Britain  in  India  have 
always  declared  that  the  end  of  British  rule  would  be  an  Indian 
nationality.  "  In  the  background  of  every  Englishman's  mind," 
says  Mr.  Theodore  Morrison,  formerly  Principal  of  the  Moham- 
medan College  at  Aligarh,  in  "Imperial  Rule  in  India,"  "is 
probably  to  be  found  the  conviction  that  it  is  our  duty  to  so 
govern  India  that  she  may  one  day  be  able  to  fovern  herself, 
and  as  an  autonomous  unit  take  her  place  in  the  gmt  confedera- 
tion of  the  British  Empire."   Macaulay,  when  legal  member  of 
the  Council  in  India,  contemplated  the  possibilities  of  a  yet  .nore 
(ttttinct  nationality.    "It  may  be,"  he  said,  "that  the  public 
mind  of  India  may  expand  under  our  system  till  it  has  out- 
grown the  system;  that  by  good  government  we  can  educate 
our  subj-cts  into  a  capacity  for  better  government;  fliat  having 
become  instructed  in  European  knowledge  they  may  in  some 
future  day  demand  European  institutions.   Whether  such  a  day 
will  ever  come  I  do  not  know.    But  never  will  I  attempt  to 
arrest  or  to  retard  it.  Whenever  it  does  come,  it  will  be  the 
proudest  day  in  English  history."   And  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes, 
one  of  the  great  men  of  the  early  days  in  India,  dreamed  of 
a  completely  free  nation.  "  England,"  said  he,  "  Uught  by  both 
past  and  present,  should  set  before  her  the  noble  policy  of  first 
fitting  India  for  freedom,  and  then  setting  her  free.  ...  It 
may  take  years,  it  may  take  a  century  to  fit  India  for  self- 
government,  but  it  is  a  thing  worth  doing,  and  a  thing  tliat 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  117 

naay  be  done."  There  could  be  but  one  result  of  the  policy 
which  Great  Britain  has  pursued,  and  which  was  capable  of 
justifying  such  words  as  these.  Whether,  indeed,  India  can  be 
unified,  and  if  so,  by  what  power,  are  problems  which  religion 
and  not  politics  will  answer ;  but  surely,  as  the  Bishop  of  Lahore 
said  in  his  charge  of  1906  at  his  third  triennial  visitation,  when 
he  quoted  the  words  of  Macaulay  and  Edwardes,  "  would  it 
not  be  madness  to  come  with  our  English  ideals,  our  ideals  of 
personal  freedom  and  equality  of  opportunity,  of  local  self- 
government  established  or  aimed  at,  and  of  essential  justice  be- 
tween man  and  man,  to  seek  by  every  means  in  our  power  to 
infuse  them  into  the  life  and  thought  of  this  land,  and  then — 
then  to  expect  nothing  to  happen — to  e^rpect  that  all  things  would 
continue  as  they  have  been  from  the  b^finning,"— to  preach 
in  the  hearing  of  the  people  the  ideal  of  a  free  and  united 
nationahty  for  them  and  not  foresee  that  they  would  inevitably 
begin  to  discuss  and  desire  this  nationality  for  themselves? 
They  are  doing  so.  "  Important  classes  among  you,"  said  the 
King  in  his  message  to  the  people  of  India,  November  i,  1908, 
"  representing  ideas  which  have  been  fostered  and  encouraged 
by  British  rule,  daim  equality  of  cttitenthq^  and  gntt  share 
in  legislation  and  government." 

And  even  in  Persia  and  Turkey,  where  Asiatic  absolutism 
has  lasted  longest  and  been  most  conq^rte,  tiie  fountains  of  tiie 
deeps  have  been  broken  up.  Free  thought  has  uttered  itself  in 
free  speech  in  lands  where  the  denial  of  freedom  of  speech 
seemed  to  have  resulted  in  the  paralysis  of  men's  minds.  The 
demand  for  representative  institutions  and  constitutional  guar- 
antees in  these  countries  has  been  the  natural,  per'.aps  in  Persia 
the  nwrely  conventional,  form  of  expression  of  the  inward  stir- 
ring of  the  national  spirit. 

The  national  resentment  of  Korea  at  the  domination  of  Japan 
is  due  to  her  dread  of  the  extinction  of  her  national  autonomy. 
The  new  order  is  vastly  superior  to  the  old,  and  the  men  who 
have  been  at  the  head  of  the  Japanese  administration  of  Kotm 
have  been  of  the  highest  political  principle,  but  the  Koreans 
had  looked  forward  to  the  opportunity  to  develop  their  natimial 


ii8        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


character  and  destiny  as  an  independent  political  personality, 
and  are  even  yet  unwilling  to  surrender  what  ttey  r^rd  as 
their  right  to  free  statehood. 

This  spirit  of  nationalism  is  inevitable  and  it  is  invaluable. 
It  is  noi  in  conflict  with  the  ideal  of  a  united  humanity.  It 
is  essential  to  its  realisation.  The  s,ame  God  Who  made  of  one 
blood  all  natiops  of  men,  assigned  them  also  their  racial  and 
national  character  and  destitifs  to  the  end  of  a  perfected  hu- 
manity. The  development  of  state  consciousness,  state  con- 
science, state  ambition,  state  duty,  is  a  development  in  the  will 
of  God  for  man,  and  tht  irue  world  citizenship  will  recognise 
this  and  build  the  unity  of  mankind,  not  upon  any  speculative 
theory  of  humanity,  nor  upon  any  sand-heap  of  individual  units, 
but  upon  corporate  nationalities  such  as  God  has  always  dealt 
with  and  built  upon  in  human  history.  He  used  a  nation  to 
prepare  ttie  salvation  of  the  world,  and  He  has  always  wrou^t 
His  purposes  through  racial  movements.  His  men  were  men 
of  their  lutions,  and  His  judgments  were  judgments  of  nations 
of  men. 

The  problems  presented  by  a  world  made  up  of  conscious 
and  independent  nationalities,  with  distinct  missions  to  fulfil 
and  distinct  contributions  to- make  to  the  ultimate  perfected 
human  society,  are  complicated  and  difficult.  Eadi  nation  re- 
sent ^  any  interference  with  its  autonomy  and  racial  aspirations. 
It  may  misconstrue  and  oppose  the  offer  of  those  services  which 
are  essential  to  the  fulfilment  of  its  destiny  as  Japan  did,  and 
as  China  has  done  for  a  hundred  years.  Good  and  evil,  lost 
and  gain,  truth  and  falsehood  are  mingled  in  all  relations  be- 
tween individuals-  they  will  be  mingled,  also,  in  international 
rdattons.  One  natkm  will  sedc  in  tfie  fulijhnent  of  its  ambitions 
the  extinction  of  another  nation.  One  of  the  two  great  problems 
of  our  day  is  the  problem  of  the  clear  discovery  by  each  nation 
of  its  true  mission  and  the  friendly  and  co-operative  adjustment 
of  this  mission  to  the  divinely  appointed  and  distinctive  miitkm 
of  each  other  nation.  The  problem  has  been  sadly  mishandled. 
The  nations  have  made  their  way  toward  light,  but  it  has  been 
throu|^  tears  and  Uood. 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  119 

Now  this  problem  of  the  nations  is  the  inevitable  problem 
of  the  Churches  also.  For  the  aim  of  foreign  missions  is  to 
plant  Christianity  indigenously  in  the  life  of  each  nation,  to 
domesticate  it  tiiere  and  let  it  grow  up  and  out  in  the  forms 
of  life  appropriate  to  it  in  the  new  environment  to  which  it  has 
been  naturalised,  to  which,  indeed,  it  has  not  needed  to  be 
naturalised  so  far  as  it  has  been  presented  in  its  true  character 
of  the  universal  life  and  faith  of  man.  So  far  as  we  succeed 
in  carrying  out  this  aim,  we  build  up  in  each  nation,  or  we  are 
witnesses  to  a  building  up  by  God  of  Churches  rooted  in  the 
life  of  each  sei»rate  nation,  eadi  one  made  up  of  its  nation's 
people,  subject  to  its  distinctive  character  and  participating  in 
its  national  mission  and  destiny.  Our  very  fundamental  ideal 
in  foreign  missions  involves  the  creation  of  die  national  proUem, 
the  p<-  -blem  of  the  relation  of  national  Churches  or  of  QnirdMSt 
which  are  to  become  national. 

I  .!ear  that  it  may  be  necessary  somewhat  to  explain  and 
defend  tills  ideal,  and  to  appeal  later  for  a  candid  acceptance 
of  all  that  it  involves.  It  certainly  is  the  ideal  of  missions  for 
which  we  must  contend.  The  Roman  Catholic  ideal  and  the 
ideal  of  some  Protestant  bodies  is  different.  There  are  Protestant 
missionary  organisations  whose  professed  aim  is  to  extend  over 
the  world  their  own  denominational  institution,  witii  its  doc- 
trines, its  polity,  and  often  with  the  subjection  of  the  new 
Churches  which  may  be  estaUish«l  to  the  diief  authorities  of 
the  Western  Church  whose  missionaries  established  them.  Such 
native  Churches,  instead  of  being  true  national  Churches,  a  com- 
ponent part  of  the  national  life,  and  entering  pervasively  and 
completely  into  its  mission,  are  only  local  branches  of  an  alien 
Church,  a  Chinese  or  Indian  section  of  an  American  or  Anglican 
or  German  organisation,  wiUi  racial  traditions,  qualities,  and 
responsiMlities  wholly  dirtinet  from  tiiOM  of  Oc  si;d>iect  brandi. 
The  policy  of  the  Roman  Church  is,  of  course,  a  part  of  its 
character  and  traditional  principle.  Mudi  is  said  of  its  adapta- 
tion to  die  life  of  the  people  to  wh«n  it  goes.  Mr.  Kdly  <toiwt 
a  true  picture  of  the  noble  devotion  and  eonsdaatioua  adiptitioii 
to  their  work  of  the  Roman  priests : 


120         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


Free  from  all  ties  of  the  world,  having  no  family  cares  to 
distract  their  attention,  they  are  at  perfect  liberty  to  follow  their 
vocation,  which  is,  like  the  Apostles,  to  be  all  things  to  all  men, 
in  order  to  gain  souls  to  Jesus  Christ  As  the  Son  of  God 
cMne  on  earth  to  save  man,  so  the  missionaries  who  continue 
His  work,  set  aside  their  prejudices  and  conform  themselves, 
as  far  as  is  allowable,  to  the  manners  of  the  people  they  wish 
to  convert  This  being  an  essential  condition  to  insure  success, 
the  missionaries  lead  the  life  and  wear  the  dress  of  the  Chinese, 
so  that  there  may  be  as  little  difference,  and  as  few  causes  of 
disbtist  between  them  and  the  people  as  possible,  and  a  closeness 
of  intercourse  which  will  enable  them  to  smooth  away  many 
difficulties,  and  to  study  and  understand  the  good  and  bad  quali- 
ties of  the  soil  they  have  to  cultivate.  At  the  same  time  by  their 
sacred  calling  they  are  aUe  to  discern  the  virtues  and  the  vices 
of  individuals;  thw  come  in  contact  with  families,  and  in  this 
way  they  acquire  knowledge  of  many  a  detail  connected  with 
the  life  of  the  people.  The  Chinese  do  not  consider  them  as 
travellers  or  mere  birds  of  passage,  but  as  neighbors  who  speak 
the  same  language,  and  very  often  as  dear  friends  living  under 
the  same  roof.  In  one  word,  China  is  the  adopted  home  in  which 
the  Catholic  missionaries  live  and  die,  and  which  they  love  in 
^ite  of  many  privations  and  hardships,  that  are  not  as  well 
Imown  as  the  dangers  of  ill-treatment  and  murder,  and  yet  are 
the  great  cause  of  the  mortality  that  so  rapidly  thins  the  ranki 
of  these  zealous  priests.— (Kelly,  "Another  China,"  p.  37 ff.) 

But  the  ideal  of  independent  nations,  each  working  out 
through  its  own  free  state  and  free  national  Church  its  own 
mission  and  contribution  to  the  perfected  humanity  which  God 
is  fashioning,  is  an  ideal  with  which  Rome  has  ever  been  at 
war.  The  Churches  which  she  founds  are  all  subject  Churches. 
On  the  foreign  mission  fields  she  imposes  a  devoted  and  adapted 
but  still  an  alien  clergy.  In  Brazil,  at  the  present  time,  she 
is  crowding  out  the  Brazilian  priests  and  dominating  the  whole 
Church  with  its  rich  endowments  by  foreign  orders.  In  the 
state  of  Santa  Catharina  there  are  only  three  Brazilian  priests 
left  In  South  Africa,  we  are  told  in  the  Report  of  the  South 
African  Native  Races  Committee,  that  "the  Trappists,  Jesuits, 
Marists,  and  other  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  keep  their  native 
converts  in  a  subordinate  position,  enforcing  a  strict  discipline 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  lai 


and  insisting  on  industrial  training.  '  I  noticed  in  the  church  of 
the  splendid  Trappist  mission  in  Natal,'  writes  Mr.  A.  Colquhoun, 
'  that  tiie  members  of  the  Order,  the  lay  brotiiers,  and  the  native 
congregation,  each  had  tiidr  special  place  in  which  they  wor- 
shipped ' ;  and  he  points  out  that,  although  a  native  may  some- 
times become  a  lay  brother,  the  Roman  Catholic  bodies  '  admit 
no  natives  to  their  orders,  and  naintain  a  strictly  disciplinarian 
relation  with  all  their  converts,  never  admitting  them  to  an 
equality  in  matters  ecclesiastical.' "  The  ideal  of  the  P'  Jian 
Church  is  to  subject  all  Churches  everywhere  to  the  Roman 
tradition,  the  Roman  theory,  and  the  Roman  government. 

This  is  not  our  ideal.  Our  ideal  is  to  establish  in  each  land 
a  native  Church  that  shall  be  of  the  soil,  rooted  in  the  tradition 
and  life  of  the  people,  fitted  to  its  customs  and  institutions, 
sharing  its  character  and  participating  in  its  mission,  yes,  defining 
and  inspiring  that  mission  as  it  can  do  only  when  it  is  a  truly 
national  Church  subject  to  no  alien  bondage.  In  such  a  Church 
Christianity  will,  of  course,  surroider  nothing  that  is  essential 
and  universal.  She  enters  into  no  compromise.  She  simply 
domesticates  herself  in  a  new  home  which  she  has  been  long  in 
finding,  and  fran  the  new  roots  which  she  sinks  into  hiunanity 
expands  that  interpretation  of  the  life  of  God  in  man  and 
nourishes  that  hope  of  man's  future  in  God,  which  can  only 
be  perfected  as  all  the  peoples  bring  their  glory  and  honour 
into  the  final  temple  of  humanity. 

In  this  view  our  ideal  is  not  to  project  our  Western  ecclesi- 
astical organisations  into  the  mission  fields,  but  to  carry  there 
the  Catholic  principles  of  the  Gospel,  let  them  take  root  and 
^velop,  while  we  give  our  fostering  aid  to  their  growth  and 
such  guidance  to  the  institutional  forms  which  they  will  take 
as  we  are  able  to  give,  but  as  will  not  hinder  the  nationalisation 
of  our  religion,  whidi  will  show  its  divine  adaptation  and  power 
by  taking  a  Chinese  body  to  itself  in  China,  as  it  took  a  Scotch 
body  in  Scotland.  With  different  measures  of  completeness,  and 
yet  witii  candid  acceptarce  of  die  central  princifde,  widdy  <fif- 
fering  ag.ncies  have  set  forth  this  view.  In  1886  the  Committee 
'>f    "  Cbui  ch  Missionary  Society  adopttd  a  statement  of  which 


122        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

one  a  iicle  was  the  following:  "That  this  Society  deprecte 
any  measure  of  Church  organisation  which  may  tend  to  per- 
manently subject  the  native  Church  communities  in  India  to 
the  forms  and  arrangements  of  the  National  and  Established 
Church  of  a  far  distant  and  very  different  country,  and  there- 
fore desires  that  all  present  arrangements  for  Church  organisa- 
tion should  remam  as  elastic  as  possible  until  the  native  Chris- 
tians themselves  shall  be  numerous  and  powerful  enough  to  have 
a  dominant  voice  in  the  formation  of  an  ecclesiastical  constitu- 
tion on  hnes  suitable  to  the  Indian  people.-a  constitution  which 
the  Society  trusts  will  while  maintaining  full  communion  with 
the  Church  of  England,  be  such  as  to  promote  the  unity  of  In- 
dian Christendom."   In  like  manner,  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America;  de- 
clared  in  1890  its  approval  of  an  action  of  its  Board  of  Foidwi 
Missions,  recommending  to  its  Missions  in  various  lands  "that 
they  encourage  as  far  as  practicable  the  formation  of  union 
churches,  in  which  the  results  of  the  mission  work  of  aU  allied 
evangelical  churches  should  be  gathered,  and  that  they  observe 
everywhere  the  most  generous  principles  of  missionary  comity" 
and  adopting  a  statement  of  one  of  its  Committees,  as  foUowi: 

In  the  view  of  the  Board,  the  object  of  the  foreicn  missionarv 
en  erprise  ,s  not  to  perpetuate  on  the  mission  field  th?dS7 
nat^nal  distinctions  of  Christendom,  but  to  build  up  on  S 
Sl  if  „"  »"^^«°^ding  to  Scriptural  principles  and  mtSSX 
the  Kingdom  o  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Wh?re  Chur-J  n°on 
cannot  be  attained,  the  Board  and  missions  Jni  l  sS 
divisions  of  territory  as  will  leave  as  large  distrkS  as  pos^"u« 
to  the  exclusive  care  and  development  of  separate  mwi<5S^  ft 

rS.^'^  "'^''i  ---aTco'^ffhould 

M  fdiustidTm^f^  -^'^  °^  "^^'^•^  ^"^'^"s  should  be 

so  adjusted  among  missions  as  not  to  ntrr  luce  an  elt^mMi*  X# 
dissatisfaction  among  the  wc.kers  of  any  i/.ssfon  or  to 
them  away  from  the  mission  with  wh?4  tS  IVe  JSnS 
th^^rof'S?  ^^^'^""hes  connect^her7wi3rro,?d 

J^t?d  with  then.  '"^ ""^  ^^"^^^J'^^ 

-c^!  •  n     u  In  co-operative  educational  work 

and  especially  where  the  schools  of  one  mission  train  £ 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  laj 


other  missions,  the  latter  should  render  some  compensatory 
service.  (4)  Printing  establishments  are  in  many  missions  re- 
quired by  the  missionary  work.  Such  should  nci  be  unnecessarily 
duplicated.  The  printing  establishment  of  one  mission  should,  if 
possiUe,  be  made  to  serve  the  needs  of  all  others  in  tiie  same 
territory.  (5)  A  hospital  invariably  opens  wide  opportunities 
for  evangelistic  work.  Until  these  are  properly  utilised,  it  is  not 
judicious  or  economical  to  establish  further  unutilised  spiritual 
opportunities.  (6)  Fellowship  and  union  among  native  Chris- 
tians of  whatever  name  slxmld  be  encouraged  in  every  possible 
way,  with  a  view  to  that  unity  of  all  disciples  for  which 
our  Lord  prayed,  and  to  which  all  mission  eifort  should 
contribute. 

From  the  beginning  the  free  Churches  have  had  leaders 
who  spdce  in  the  sanw  Catholic  mind.  And  at  the  omse- 
cration  of  the  new  bishops  of  Bombay  and  Polynesia  on 
Ascension  Day,  1908,  Bishop  Gore  set  forth  the  oft-repeated 
warning  of  wise  missionary  leaders  against  the  confusion  of 
our  nationalism  with  that  Catholic  Christianity  which  will  find 
a  home  in  every  other  nationality.  "  There  is,"  said  he,  "  a 
very  specifically  Anglican  colour  about  our  home  religion,  which 
we  (h:^  to  have  no  desire  to  perpetuate  in  India.  An  Engli^ 
man,  wherever  he  goes,  is  apt  to  identify  his  religion  with  his 
memories  of  home.  We  ought  to  identify  our  religion  with  the 
Christ  of  all  nations.  What  we  de»re  is  to  see  an  Indian  Church 
arise  with  an  Indian  episcopate  and  an  Indian  sptrit"— (TAtf 
Churchman,  June  27,  1908.) 

But  this  ideal  creates  in  missions  the  same  problems  which 
we  have  noted  in  the  political  life  of  our  tinoe— the  prddem 
of  relations  between  the  missions  as  representing  foreign 
Churches  on  one  side,  and  the  native  Churches  on  the  other. 
Those  Churdies  which,  whether  by  theory  or  by  practice,  ob- 
scure any  distinctimi  between  the  two,  and  either  confuse  the 
missions  with  the  native  Churches  or  subordinate  the  native 
Churches  to  foreign  ecclesiastical  organisations,  do  not  esci^ 
the  pnrf^m.  They  lay  it  up  for  tiwnMehret  in  a  more  difficult 
and  aggravated  form,  unless  their  work  it  entirely  without  fruit. 
If  it  bears  fruit,  if  men  are  influenced  by  it,  Umd  iiwvit«bl{y 


124        CHRISTIANmr  AND  THE  NATIONS 

the  question  of  the  relation  of  these  men  and  their  new  prin- 
ciple to  those  of  their  own  race  and  nation,  their  rektions 
to  the  foreign  missionaries  who  brought  the  Gospel  to  iima, 
and  to  die  Churches  and  nations  which  they  represent  and  can- 
not escape  from  representing,  will  arise,  and  it  is  in  tiie  highest 
degree  desirable  that  it  should  arise. 

It  is  an  inevitable  evil,  to  which  attention  has  already  been 
drawn,  tiiat  Christianity  must  appear  in  the  mission  field  as 
a  foreign  religion,  connected  with  foreign  peoples  and  institutions 
in  a  way  that  arouses  the  suspicion  of  the  nationaUstic  aspira- 
tions of  non-Christian  states.    The  first  converts  must  bear 
the  reproach  of  unpatriotic  and  disloyal  action.   They  will  be 
regarded  as  attaches  of  a  foreign  doctrine,  and  at  the  very 
outset  will  appear  without  the  character  of  a  native  institution 
°^  barbaric  disturbers  of  the  national  ideals.   We  need 
to  remember  that,  after  all,  Christianity  met  this  same  problem 
at  the  outset  in  its  entrance  upon  the  Greek  world.  Aristides 
defends  "  the  Greek  nationality  against  the  Christian  and  philo- 
sophic cosmopolitanism."— (Harnack,  "Expansion  of  Chris- 
tianity m  the  First  Three  Centuries,"  Vol.  II,  p  129)  "To 
him."  says  Harnack,  "  Chr..tians  are  despisers  of  Hellenism. 
How  a  man  hke  Tatian  must  have  irritated  him  f  Neumann  thus 
gives  the  charges  of  Aristides:  'People  who  themselves  are 
simply  of  no  account  venture  to  slander  a  Demosthenes 
They  have  severed  themselves  deliberately  from  the  Greeks  or 
rather  from  all  that  is  good  in  the  worid.    Incapable  of 'co- 
operating for  any  useful  end  whatsoever,  they  yet  are  nu.  ,.ers 
of  the  art  of  undermining  a  household  and  setting  its  members 
by  the  ears.   Not  a  word,  not  an  idea,  not  a  deed  of  theirs  has 
ever  borne  fruit.    They  take  no  part  in  organising  festivals, 
nor  do  they  pay  honour  to  the  gods.  They  occupy  no  seats  on 
avic  councUs,  they  never  comfort  the  sad,  they  never  reconcile 
those  who  are  at  variance,  they  do  nothing  for  the  advancement 
of  the  young,  or  indeed  of  anybody.  They  take  no  thought  for 
style,  but  creep  into  a  corner  and  talk  stupidly.   They  are  ven- 
turing already  on  the  cream  of  Greece  and  calling  themselves 
Phflowphers.     Aristides  said  then  just  what  in  mission  fields 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  las 

of  our  own  day  the  nationalistic  spirit  has  said  of  the  Christian 
Church.  To  the  extent  to  which  it  is  a  new  and  ufdieaving 
force,  the  Church  can  say  nothing;  it  can  only  proceed  to  do 
its  work  of  conversion  of  others  and  of  the  spirit  it  opposes. 
But  to  the  extent  that  the  charge  of  disloyalty  and  alienism  is 
true,  it  can  only  raise  with  itself  the  question  whether  it  is 
native  or  foreign,  whether  its  founders  ot^t  to  be  its  masters 
and  preside  over  its  destinies  as  well  as  its  origins. 

We  pass  over  the  personal  forms  in  which  the  problem  is  sure 
to  arise  from  the  amtriticms  of  individual  leaders  both  native 
and  foreign,  whether  these  ambitions  are  founded  and  directed 
well  or  ill.  Apart  from  all  personalities,  the  question  springs 
from  the  very  nature  of  things.  The  Eastern  nations  are  coming 
to  a  iww  iiaticmal  amsdousiiess.  Who  are  to  be  tlie  leaders  cMF 
the  new  day?  In  that  which  concerns  and  expresses  the  deeper 
Ufe  of  these  peoples  are  Christian  men  to  take  a  leading  place 
or  not?  What  shall  be  the  relation  of  the  Christian  Church 
to  these  movements,  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  helped  to 
-originate,  to  which  it  alone  can  give  the  right  principle  and  the 
ruest  guidance?  Surely  if  Christianity  is  to  be  a  power  in 
the  lives  of  these  people,  it  must  «iter  into  tiieir  natimal  char- 
acter and  form  and  control  its  hopes  and  ambitions.  Well,  that 
is  the  last  tiling  it  can  do  as  an  exotic,  an  alien  imposition,  an 
influence  organised  and  directed  from  without.  If  it  is  not  to 
be  this,  if  it  is  to  fulfil  its  destiny  as  the  directing  force  of 
national  character  and  purpose,  the  question  of  the  right  rela- 
tions of  mission  and  native  Church  must  be  raised,  and  raised 
from  the  outset. 

And  not  only  is  the  problem  inevitable.  It  is  in  the  highest 
degree  desirable.  Those  missions  are  to  be  congratulated  upon 
which  it  has  pressed  first  and  most  insistently.  It  is  a  hopeful 
sign  of  the  reality  of  the  work  done  in  Japan  and  China  that 
the  question  has  arisen  and  demanded  solution  there,  and  it  is 
the  most  discouraging  element  in  the  situation  in  India  that  after 
a  hundred  years  of  mission  work  in  that  land  the  idnl  of  so 
many  of  the  men  who  dwuld  be  the  leaders  of  the  native  Church, 
engaged  in  rootii^  ChrMattfty  and  its  life  dc^  in  the  soil  and 


126        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


native  institutions,  is  to  become  employees  of  foreign  missionary 
organisations  on  the  basis  and  with  the  status  of  foreign  mis- 
sioaaries.  I  repeat  diat  tiiis  seems  to  me  one  of  tiie  saddest 
and  most  discouraging  features  of  missionary  work.  It  is  a 
symptom  of  the  same  disposition  of  which  Mr.  R.  I.  Paul  com- 
plains in  an  article  on  "  Indian  Christians  and  the  National 
Movement"  "  Does  it  not  bdioove  tis,"  says  this  Indian  Chris- 
tian, "  to  dispel  from  the  minds  of  our  non-Christian  brethren 
the  suspicions  that  we  count  ourselves  as  other  than  Indians? 
If  we  persist  in  keeping  aloof,  what  other  conclusion  is  possiMe? 
Nay,  more.  Are  we  not  giving  ground  to  the  deplorable  idea 
that  Christianity  is  videshi  ?  As  Dr.  Ghose  has  well  said,  '  Arc 
we  not  working,  praying,  and  waiting  for  the  glorious  day 
when  our  Hind  becomes  a  Christian  ooontry?'  Dttgiy  h&ve 
we  realised  that  Christianity  has  come  not  only  to  stay  in  India* 
but  also  to  conquer  it;  and  that  this  will  take  place  whether 
a  Christian  nation  rules  us  or  not — so  firm  is  our  idea  tiiat 
Christianity  is  becoming  more  and  more  every  day  a  Swadeshi 
religion.  But  can  any  thinking  non-Christian  in  India  be  ^^ttt 
to  think  so?  If  not,  the  fault  lies  with  our  aloofness." — (The 
Young  Men  of  India,  January,  1909.)  It  is  tteie  that 
the  question  raised  long  ago  in  Japan  should  be  raised  in  India, 
not  tiie  petty  and  fallacious  question  of  how  to  control  the  ex- 
penditure of  mission  funds,  but  the  deep  and  vital  questicm  of 
how  to  build  up  a  true  native  Church  which  shall  be  able  to  lay 
hold  upon  the  living  movements  of  the  nation  and  give  them 
genius  and  guidance.  And  this  question,  as  a  matter  of  prac 
tical  missionary  administration^  is  a  question  of  ecdesiasricai 
naticmal  relations.  It  is  the  problem  of  nationalism  oqwencd  in 
terms  of  mission  and  native  Church. 

And  the  point  to  which  we  address  ourselves  is  this:  Can- 
not the  problem  which  in  pditics  has  not  been  solved,  but  orly 
slowly  worked  out  in  tears  and  blood,  be  so  dealt  with  in  re- 
ligion as  to  bind  men  together  from  the  outset  in  the  harmonious 
fulfilment  of  diverse  functions,  and  the  deveic^ment  of  that 
ecclesiastical  nationalism  which  is  to  give  spiritual  meantef  tad 
direction  to  all  others?  We  must  believe  that  it  can. 


IfUSiONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHUl 


To  tfds  end  it  b  necessary  to  recognise  tint  it  is  a  proUem 
which  we  confront,  and  to  define  to  ourselves  the  nature  of  this 
problem.  First  of  all,  it  is  a  problem  in  right  ideals  and  ri^t 
education  from  the  outset.  The  mission  movemmt  must  see 
what  the  end  is  that  it  is  aeddi^,  and  must  keep  tiiis  dearly 
before  itself,  no  matter  how  long  delayed  its  realisation  may 
be,  and  it  must  set  it  before  the  native  Church  from  the  be- 
ginning, so  that  no  false  education  shall  leave  behind  it  results 
from  which  the  future  generations  can  only  extricate  themselves 
with  suffering.  In  the  second  place,  it  is  a  problem  in  gradual 
transition.  It  is  this  which  constitutes  one  great  element  of 
difficulty.  At  first  there  is  no  native  Church.  When  it  begins, 
it  may  begin  in  the  conversion  of  some  one  poor  individual,  it 
may  be  a  personal  servant  The  growth  may  be  slow.  Lxmg 
before  the  time  of  mati^nty  will  have  come  the  mission  will 
have  had  to  anticipate  it  knd  to  lay  the  foundatiw.  of  institutions 
essential  to  the  life  and  power  of  the  native  Church,  which  will 
in  due  time  become  the  business  f  the  Church.  As  the  Church 
approadies  maturity,  there  win  ..till  remain  duties  whidi  tiw 
mission  is  to  aid  it  in  discharging.  If  the  mission  and  the  native 
Church  started  on  equal  footing  and  qualified  at  the  outset  to 
arrange  their  relations,  the  whole  question  would  be  different ;  but 
the  proUem  is  one  of  a  kmg  and  comfdicated  tranriticm  fai  whidi 
the  slowess  of  the  process  easily  obscures  the  essential  principles 
and  the  ultimate  issues.  In  the  third  place,  as  has  just  been 
suggested,  it  is  a  problem  in  relaticms.  The  misskm  is  a  fordgn 
missim.  Its  work  may  be  long  continued,  but  it  can  oidy  be 
permanent  where  it  is  a  failure.  The  greater  the  success,  the 
more  temporary  its  character.  Its  end  is  to  create  something 
else  to  whidi  it  is  to  give  {dace.  The  prot^m  is  one  of  rigirt 
relationship  to  the  fulfilment  of  this  end.  It  is  on  this  very 
account,  also,  a  problem  in  distinctions.  The  native  Church  is 
to  be  independent  Unless  tiiat  independence  is  to  be  secured 
by  crisis  and  revolution,  it  must  be  prepared  for  by  wise  recogni- 
tir^  of  free  and  separate  rights  from  the  outset,  and  by  the 
coroial  development  of  liberty.  Henry  Venn's  schemes  for  the 
definitiop  <A  dtitiiict  <totttt  and  rights  on  die  part  of  native  con* 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


grc^tions  have  been  thoughtfully  criticised  by  a  modern  student 
of  missioiij  on  the  ground  that  by  his  system  "  the  difference 
between  the  work  and  aims  of  Ae  nrissionary  sodety  and  tee 

of  the  Church  it  has  brought  into  being  is  unnecessarily  accen- 
tuated."—(Richter,  "  History  of  Indian  Missions,"  p.  43*-)  I' 
may  be,  but  there  is  a  difference  and  it  needs  to  be  diacemed 
and  firmly  accentuated.   If  no  such  difference  is  obsenrcd  in 
the  long  preparatory  years,  it  will  be  difficult  to  secure  its  recog- 
nition afterwards.  Missions  wiU  have  to  go  on  doing  work  which 
a  native  Church  should  long  before  have  been  raised  tip  to  dc^ 
as  is  tiie  case  in  India,  and  the  native  Church  will  be  an  exotic 
or  a  parasite  wiren  it  ought  to  be  a  native  and  indigenous  power, 
pervading  and  moulding  the  Ufe  of  the  nation.  And  lastly,  the 
problem  is  a  prol»lem  also  in  faith  and  kwe.  It  is  a  problem  in 
faith  and  trust.    Men  take  on  the  character  with  which  you 
credit  them.  They  become  what  you  trust  that  they  are.  Move- 
ments  and  institutions,  also.  They  learn  as  men  learn,  by  effort 
and  experiment,  by  the  actual  attempt  to  discharge  responsibility, 
by  failure  oft-repeated  and  by  mistakes.    We  must  not  think 
that  we  can  carry  on  mission  work  in  disregard  of  all  rh  .-  prin- 
ciples of  human  nature  and  true  educatkm.  Responsibilities 
must  be  laid  on  the  native  Churches  from  the  beginning,  axwl 
they  must  be  expected  and  trusted  to  do  nu^ny  things,  whid 
they  may  not  do  or  may  not  do  nearly  as  well  as  Aey  wouk 
be  done     a  weU-<»ganised  foreign  mission.  Diverse  judgmeirt! 
are  presented  to  us  on  this  issue  by  men  who,  if  they  face* 
practical  issues  togethe/,  might  not  after  all  be  very  far  apart 
On  the  one  hMid,  Dr.  Wameck  wrote  to  the  students  at  th( 
Liverpool  Conference  in  1908,  expressing  his  misgivings  as  t< 
the  consequences  of  free  action  and  undirected  growth  on  th^ 
part  of  the  new  Churches  of  the  East  He  pointed  ont  tm 
dangers,  as  he  saw  them: 

The  first  is  the  danger  of  a  rel^ous  eclecticism,  whidh  ha 
already  attained  formidable  proportions  in  Japan,  and  which  wil 
I  fear,  before  long,  start  propaganda  in  Chma  and  India,  an 
turn  many  heads.  It  is  by  no  means  confined  to  frankly  nor 
Christian  circles,  which  speak  quite  openly  of  a  devetopment  c 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  139 

Christunity  by  the  incorporation  of  Buddhist  and  rnnfm^anitt 
doctriaet,  but  abo  Japaaese  native  Chritliaas,  iadnAaf  cqih 
^licnoaa  |>readiers,  who  are  questioning  the  finality  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  are  leaving  it  an  open  question  what  and  how  much 
can  be  taken  over  from  other  religions  in  order  to  complete  the 
Christian  faith.  I  cannot  stop  to  prove  this,  in  this  short  message 
of  greeting,  but  if  you  study  the  accurate  reports  which  are  not 
idealistic,  which  come  from  Ji^>an,  you  will  find  sufficient  proof 
of  what  I  say.  It  is  not  the  first  time  that  a  young  native  Church 
has  found  itself  face  to  face  with  eclectic  dangers  of  this  sort. 
As  you  know  from  your  Church  history,  such  dangers  existed 
in  the  early  Christian  centuries.  In  the  Far  East,  we  stand 
now  only  aa  the  threshold  of  these  dangers;  but  do  not  close 
your  eyes  to  Aem  and,  in  so  far  as  you  may  be  called  to  take 
a  part  in  the  Qiristianising  of  those  lands,  spare  no  effort  that 
the  old  apostolic  Gospel  is  not  mingled  with  h«ithen  elements. 

The  other  danger  is  that  of  a  premature  complete  independ- 
^e  of  the  jroong  native  churches  from  the  parent  Christendom. 
Of  course,  it  is  the  objective  of  all  missionary  agencies  to  raise 
up  self-supporting,  self-governing,  and  self-extending  native 
Churches,  and  our  whole  missionary  aim  is,  at  present,  directed 
towards  educating  them  to  independence  of  this  kind.  But  a 
h»lth]r  edncatiaQ  avoids  sudden  leaps.  We  must  first  have 
Chnstums  who  are  mature,  well  grounded  in  Christian  doctrine, 
stable  in  morals,  capable  of  an  independent  judgment  in  spiritual 
matters,  rich  in  Christian  experienc  before  we  can  constitute 
completely  mdependent  native  Churci.js.  Witiwut  that  gturan- 
tee,  there  is,  as  experience  everywhere  shows,  the  danger  of  a 
religious  and  monU  declension.  If  a  doctrine,  right  enough  in 
Itself,  lacks  practical  pedagogic  wisdom  in  its  actual  «ppit^»fnn 
to  life,  it  becomes  a  dangerous  theorising. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Meredith  Townsend  proposes  the 
hercnc  course  of  abandonment  of  the  native  Churches  to  their 
own  devdopment 

Let  every  native  Church  once  founded  be  left  to  Hsdf  or  be 
helped  only  by  letters  of  advice,  as  the  Churches  of  Asia  were, 
to  seek  for  itself  the  rule  of  life  which  best  suits  Christianity 
in  India,  to  press  that  part  of  Christianity  most  welcome  to  the 
I  people,  to  uree  those  dcematic  truths  which  most  attract  and 
hold  ttem.  We  in  Emland  have  afanost  forgotten  those  dis- 
cussions on  the  nature  of  God  which  divided  the  Eastern  Empire 
oi  Rome,  and  which  among  Christian  Indians  would  prdbabl/ 


I30 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


revive  in  their  fullest  force.  It  is  the  very  test  of  Christianity 
that  it  can  adapt  itself  to  all  civilisations  and  improve  all,  and 
the  true  native  Churches  of  India  will  no  more  be  like  ibt 
Reformed  Churches  of  Europe  than  the  Churches  of  Yorkshire 
are  like  the  Churches  of  Asia  Minor.  Strange  beliefs,  strange 
organisations,  many  of  them  spiritual  despotisms  of  a  lofty  type, 
like  that  of  Keshub  Chimder  Sen,  the  most  original  of  all  modem 
Indians,  wild  aberrations  from  the  truth,  it  may  be  even  mon- 
strous heresies,  will  appear  among  them,  but  there  will  be  life, 
conflict,  energy,  and  the  faith  will  spread,  not  as  it  does  now 
like  a  fire  in  a  middle-class  stove,  but  like  a  fire  in  the  forest. 
There  is  far  too  much  fear  of  imperfect  Christianity  in  the  whole 
missionary  organisation.  Christianity  is  always  imperfect  in  its 
beginnings.  The  majority  of  Christians  in  Constantine's  time 
would  have  seemed  to  modern  missionaries  mere  worldlings ;  the 
ccmverted  Saxons  were  for  centuries  violent  brutes;  and  the 
mass  of  Christians  throughout  the  world  are  even  now  no  better 
than  indifferents.  None  the  less  is  it  true  that  the  race  which 
embraces  Christianity,  even  nominally,  rises  with  a  bound  out 
of  its  former  position,  and  contains  in  itself  henceforward  the 
seed  of  a  nobler  and  more  lasting  life. 

Mr.  Townsend's  proposal  msy  be  regarded  by  some  as  only 
theoretical  as  yet,  since  no  Asiatic  people  can  be  said  to  have 
embraced  Christianity  as-  a  race,  ard  some  might  argue  that 
no  native  Church  has  yet  been  adequately  founded  in  Asia. 
But  the  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer  some  years  ago  was  prepared  to  go 
the  full  length  of  Mr.  Townsend's  proposition  without  further 
delay.  In  an  interview  dictated  and  corrected  for  an  American 
paper,  he  said : 

It  might  be  the  very  best  thing  for  China,  and  India  as  well, 
if  all  the  American  and  European  missionaries  would  have  to 
clear  out  I  have  had  no  personal  experience  or  observation  in 
China,  but  I  have  in  India.  The  one  thing  lacking  In  the  life 
of  the  Indian  Christians  is  independence.  They  lean  on  the 
foreign  missionaries.  If  the  missionaries  went  two  things  would 
happen: 

1.  The  "  rice  Christians  "  would  drop  off. 

2.  Those  on  whom  real  growth  must  depend  would  be  com- 
pelled to  take  a  determined  stand,  and  through  them  the  Holy 
Ghost  would  probably  produce  a  native  Christian  Church  that 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  131 


would  prove  the  one  orgar  izsHcm  for  the  evangelisation  of  India. 
I  doubt  if  India  can  W.  evangeiisft  by  present  methods.  Botii 
American  (to  an  ext  nt)  and  Engii.  w  missionaries  stand  as  the 
representatives  of  a  'ot  qtiering  lac;,  to  whom  the  weak  cringe 
or  depend  for  support,  and  from  whom  the  sdf-reHant  stand 
aloof. 

As  in  the  case  of  Madagascar  the  awful  persecution  in  the 

sixties  proved  the  means  of  developing  a  strong  Madagascar 
Church,  so  persecutions  in  China  incident  to  the  present  up- 
heaval may  well  prove  under  God  the  development  of  a  strong 
Chinese  Church.  In  China  the  Gospel  is  not  now  indigenous. 
I  think  the  time  is  ready  for  withdrawal  of  the  foreigners.  The 
early  Christian  Church  had  not  as  long  a  time  of  probation  before 
its  leaders  were  given  up  to  martyrdom,  and  yet  the  Church 
stood.  It  will  stand  in  China,  the  more  so  that  the  Chinese  have 
the  Scriptures.  For  that  matter,  my  judgment  is  that  the  prin- 
ciple holds  more  in  China  than  in  India,  and  from  my  own 
knowledge  I  am  convinced  that  the  American  and  European 
missionaries  will  have  to  leave  India  before  the  work  there 
becomes  truly  successful.  The  Chinese  character  is  of  stronger 
stuff  than  the  Indian.  The  Chinese  make  superb  preachers, 
and  are  excellent  evangelists.  Of  course  the  Europeans  and 
Americans  would  leave  the  property  there  for  native  use.  In 
this  whole  matter  I  am  only  trying  to  interpret  what  I  think 
to  be  the  course  of  God's  providence.  Christendom  has  never 
had  a  chance  to  know  the  splendid  stuff  of  which  native  Chris- 
tians in  China  are  made.  Withdraw  the  foreign  Christian  work- 
ers and  I  believe  we  shall  soon  force  the  Church  in  both  countries 
to  become  indigenous  and  independent,  and  see  it  prosper  as 
it  can  never  prosper  under  present  c<»dttions.~(rM  CImnh 
Economist,  Sept.,  1900.) 

This  is  a  measure  of  confidence  in  the  ability  of  the  native 
Church  to  evangelise  the  world  which  neither  those  Churches 
nor  the  foreign  missions  are  able  as  yet  to  feel,  although  the 
day  for  it  will  surely  come,  and  when  it  does  come  the  transition 
will  be  made  not  because  of  the  failure  of  the  missions,  but 
because  of  their  success,  a  success  prepared  for  by  generous 
confidence  in  the  native  Churches,  and  trust  in  tiie  Spirit  of 
God,  Who  is  leading  them  as  truly  as  He  is  leading  the  Churches 
of  the  West.  For  the  problem  with  which  we  are  dealing  is, 
as  I  have  said,  a  problem  of  trust.    If  we  do  not  trust  the 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


native  Churches  and  trust  them  with  responsibility,  we  shall 
only  raise  up  anaemic  imitations  oi  Western  models,  which  .vill 
be  impotent  to  play  their  part  in  the  national  destinies  which 
tiiey  ought  to  be  moulding  and  inspiring.  I  am  content  to  state 
the  convictions  set  forth  in  these  lectures  in  the  words  of  a 
great  Indian  missionary,  Robert  Clark  of  the  Punjab,  in  which 
he  speaks  of  the  natural  leaders  of  the  native  Church:  "It 
would  seem  to  follow,  then,  that  we  must  make  them  the  actors 
in  missionary  work,  and  must  not  let  them  be  merely  the  per- 
sons who  are  always  acted  on.  We  must  throw  responsibility 
cm  them,  and  throw  on  them  difficulties,  too.  as  they  occur ;  and, 
placing  them  in  the  arena,  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man,  we 
must  let  them  act,  and  see  how  they  will  act,  and  encourage 
them  to  act  well,  and  of  themselves.  Have  we  not,  we  may 
ask,  made  duties,  and  especially  mission  duties,  too  easy  for 
native  Christians;  so  that  they  are  still,  even  now,  many  of 
them,  mere  babes,  without  self-reliance,  or  ability  to  originate 
or  carry  out  measures  by  themselves;  so  that,  without  any  will 
or  wish  of  their  own,  they  are  like  the  pieces  at  a  game  of  chess, 
put  forward  by  the  player,  and,  when  left  to  themselves,  remain 
everlastingly  in  the  same  position  in  which  they  were  placed? 
It  would  seem  that  they  must  begin  to  act  for  themselves;  to 
preach  for  themselves;  to  conduct  schools  for  themselves;  to 
go  out  on  itinerations  for  themselves ;  to  publish  books  for  them- 
selves; to  raise  subscriptions  for  themselves;  to  live  by  them- 
selves; leaning  on  no  arm  but  their  own  and  God's." — (Cuakk, 
"  Robert  Clark  of  the  Punjab,"  p.  251.) 

Such  an  attitude  of  confidence  is  possible  only  to  great  love. 
It  is  the  love  of  parents  in  the  home  which  makes  them  too 
wise  to  do  for  their  children  what  they  should  do  for  them- 
selves. The  metaphors  of  paternalism  are  not  good  in  misskm 
work,  but  yet  in  a  true  sense  the  native  Churches  are  the  children 
of  the  older  Christian  Churches.  Those  older  Churches  show 
the  greater  love  to  the  newer  who  trust  them  truly.  And  in 
a  closer  sense  the  proMem  is  a  pn^em  of  teve  as  well  as  of 
confidence.  We  are  dealing  with  men  and  women  of  the  same 
spirit  as  ourselvei,  with  the  same  feelings  and  rights.  The  wholt 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  133 

course  and  issue  of  difficult  and  complicated  questions  of  in- 
stitutional relations  ard  adjustments  may  depend  upon  personal 
courtesy  and  affectkm.  Dr.  Wamedc  rightly  states  that  "we 
must  first  have  Christiuns  who  are  mature,  well-grounded  in 
Christian  doctrine,  ctable  in  morals,  capable  of  an  independent 
judgment  in  spiritual  matters,  rich  in  Christian  experience,  be- 
fore we  can  constitute  completely  independent  native  Churches." 
There  are  many  such  Christians,  and  the  solution  of  the  problem 
with  which  we  are  dealing  will  hinge  upon  our  confidence  in 
them  as  men  entitled  to  be  trusted  wholly,  and  upon  our  affection 
for  them  as  personal  friends. 

I  believe  that  this  is  the  general  way  in  which  we  should 
view  the  problem.  It  remains  to  consider  it  in  its  practical 
detail.  The  administrative  ideal  of  foreign  missions  is  the  es- 
tablishment of  independent  national  Churches.  The  familiar 
adjectives  describing  the  practical  characteristics  which,  in  their 
relati(»i  to  missions,  it  is  sought  t  develop  in  tiiese  Churches 
are  self -propagating,  self-supporting,  self-governing. 

The  primarv  essential  of  Christianity  is  self-extension.  It 
is  the  sign  of  life.  The  Church  is  here  to  make  disciples  of 
all  the  nations.  To  that  end,  as  Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon  was  accus- 
tomed to  say,  "every  disciple  must  be  a  discipler."  The  first 
Christian  must  go  out  at  once  to  tell  his  story  and  to  win  others. 
From  the  very  beginning  the  Church  must  be  an  evangdistic 
agency.  The  early  Church  was  such  a  living,  self-propagating 
power.  The  work  was  not  done  by  a  few  select  missionaries. 
The  very  life  of  the  Church  was  a  propaganda.  Hamack  dc> 
scribes  its  character  and  its  method: 

The  most  numerous  and  successful  missionaries  of  the 
Christian  religion  were  not  the  regular  teachers  but  Chri&tiani 
themselves,  by  dint  of  their  loyalty  and  courage.  How  little  we 
hear  of  the  former  and  their  results,  how  nm^  of  tlie  cffeett 
produced  by  the  latter! 

If  tills  dominated  all  their  life,  and  if  they  lived  according  to 
the  precepts  of  their  religion,  they  could  not  be  hidden  at  all; 
by  their  very  mode  of  living  they  could  not  fail  to  preach  their 
faith  plainly  and  audibly.  Then  there  was  the  conviction  that 
the  day  of  judgment  was  at  hand,  and  that  they  were  debtors 


134         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


to  the  heathen.  Furthermore,  so  far  from  narrowing  Chris- 
tianity, the  exclusiveness  of  the  Gospel  was  a  powerfm  aid  in 
promoting  its  misskm,  owing  to  the  sharp  dilemma  whkfa  it 

involved. 

We  cannot  hesitate  to  believe  that  the  great  mission  of 
Christianity  was  in  reality  accomplished  by  means  of  informal 
missionaries.  Justin  says  so  explicitly. — (Harnack,  "The  Ex- 
pansion of  Christianity  in  the  First  Three  Centuries,"  Vd.  I, 

pp.  458-460.) 

This  character  must  be  given  to  the  native  Church  on  the 
foreign  mission  field  from  the  first  hour  of  its  existence.  Before 
there  is  a  church  organisation,  before  there  is  a  baptised  be- 
liever, the  principle  of  propagandism  must  be  planted  in  th 
first  enquirers.  They  must  be  taught  that  the  duty  of  spreading 
Christianity  by  life  and  word  is  the  duty  of  every  Christian. 
It  is  not  the  duty  of  official  preachers  only,  far  less  of  those 
alone  who  are  supported  by  such  work.  Wrong  conceptions  on 
these  points  can  easily  be  given  at  the  outset,  and  their  fatal 
effects  will  be  felt  for  generations.  There  are  native  Churches 
which  are  not  only  ineffective  as  forces  of  propaganda,  but 
positively  obstructive.  And  their  character  is  due  in  part  to  a 
wrong  education  at  the  outset.  The  duty  of  making  Christ  known 
must  be  impressed  upon  the  Church  by  impressing  it  upon  each 
believer  at  the  very  beginning.  That  has  been  done  in  Uganda 
and  Korea,  and  in  two  ways.  First,  the  enquirer  in  Korea  was 
asked  whether  he  had  told  any  one  else  of  the  Gospel,  and  was 
not  received  until  he  could  bring  some  one  else.  The  new  Chris- 
tians tasted  the  joy  and  learned  the  duty  of  evangelism  at  the 
start.  Secondly,  the  missionaries  set  before  the  Church  the 
right  example.  It  would  have  imitated  the  contrary  example 
of  torpor,  stagnant  home-keeping,  general  conversation  on  civili- 
sation, routine  secularism,  and  occasional  religious  activity  on 
set  occasion  if  that  example  liad  been  offered.  A  heavy  re- 
sponsibiliy  rests  on  the  founders  of  native  Churches  in  this 
matter.  "  There  are  some  missionaries,"  writes  an  experienced 
and  untiring  worker  in  China,  "  who  are  doing  aggressive  evan- 
gelistic work  and  thus  setting  an  example  to  the  Chinese  Church, 
but  too  many  alk>w  thansdves  to  be  occupied  simply  with  the 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  I35 

care  of  stations  that  they  have  fallen  heir  to,  or  that  have 
come  to  them  in  some  way  without  much  effort  on  their  part, 
so  that  all  the  growth  is  simply  addition  from  the  family  con- 
necticns  in  the  old  Christian  stations  that  have  probably  existed 
for  twenty  or  thirty  years.  This  fact,  with  its  bearings,  is  one 
of  the  most  serious  in  the  mission  enterprise.  Missionaries  ought 
to  be  an  example  to  the  Chinese  Church  in  the  matter  of  con- 
secrated enterprise." — (The  Chinese  Recorder,  October,  1908, 
Art.  "Evangelism  in  Relation  to  the  Growth  of  the  Chinese 
Church."  See  also  speech  by  Bishop  Tucker  on  "  Self-exten- 
sion, Self-support,  and  Self-government  in  Missionary  Churches," 
at  the  Anglican  Church  Congress,  Brighton,  1901.)  The  self- 
propagating  zeal  of  native  Churches  is  the  measure  of  missionary 
fidelity  in  this  regard,  and  a  noble  and  convincing  testimony 
it  provides,  but  the  foreign  missions  of  the  Western  Churches 
have  not  always  discerned  that  the  great  duty  of  evangelisation 
must  rest  upoh  the  native  Churches,  and  that  the  duty  must  be 
taught  the  native  Churches  by  beginning  to  teach  it  by  method 
and  policy  and  example  before  ever  the  native  Churches  exist. 
And  if  one  characteristic  of  the  native  Church  is  to  be  exalted 
above  another,  it  is  this  one.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  is  it  not  the  one 
least  talked  about,  least  exalted?  But  of  what  use  is  a  self- 
supporting  and  self-governing  Church  which  is  spiritually  dead? 
The  very  purpose  of  the  Church  is  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature  and  to  form  the  naticmal  character  and  inspire  the 
national  purpose.  The  missionary  enterprise  fails  in  its  central 
mission  if  it  does  not  establish  Churches  whose  life  is  dominated 
by  the  spirit  of  national  propagandism  and  world  evangelisation. 
This  is  the  first  thing. 

The  second  is  self-support.  It  is  more  important  than  self- 
government,  as  a  man's  duties  are  more  important  than  his 
rights.  From  the  very  beginning,  the  ideal  of  self-support,  jttit 
as  the  ideal  of  self-propagation,  must  be  imbedded  in  the  ger- 
minating and  growing  native  Church.  The  first  preaching  must, 
of  course,  be  by  the  missionaries,  but  just  as  soon  as  possifale 
the  native  Church  itself  must  be  set  to  doing  the  preaching  and 
meeting  the  cqiense  of  it.  Where  the  work  meets  with  speedy 


136        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

success  it  may  be  possible  to  make  the  work  of  the  Church 
self-supporting  from  the  outset.  This  has  been  the  case  in 
Uganda.  Bishop  Tucker  set  forth  the  remarkable  record  of  the 
Uganda  Church  at  the  Brighton  Church  Congress  in  1901 : 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  2,000  native  evangelists  at  work 
in  the  country.  These  are  all  maintained  by  the  native  Church. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  27  native  clergy.  Nor  is 
this  all.  The  churches  and  schools  of  the  country— some  700  in 
number— are  built,  repaired,  and  maintained  by  the  natives  them- 
selves. In  one  word,  the  whole  work  of  the  native  Church— its 
educational,  pastoral,  and  missionary  work— is  maintained  en- 
tirely from  native  sources.  Not  one  single  halfpenny  of  English 
money  is  employed  in  its  maintenance. 

What  is  the  secret  of  the  attainment  of  this  most  desirable 
state  of  things  ?  Two  things  from  the  very  beginning  have  been 
kept  steadily  m  view.  First,  the  necessity  of  bringing  home  to 
the  minds  of  the  converts  a  sense  not  merely  of  the  duty  and 
responsibility,  but  also  of  the  privilege,  of  giving  to  the  support 
of  their  own  Church;  and  secondly  (and  this  is  vitally  im- 
portant), the  setting  one's  face  "  like  a  flint  "  against  the  employ- 
ment by  the  missi<M»nes  of  Eur(^>ean  funds  in  the  work  of 
native  Church. 

It  is  so  easy  to  appeal  to  wealthy  and  generous  friends  at  home 
for  £10  or  £15  for  the  supiwrt  of  a  Bible-woman  or  a  native 
evangelist,  and  so  difficult  to  continue  in  the  work  of  inculcating 
by  slow  degrees  the  responsibility  and  privilege  of  giving  But 
here  again,  as  in  the  case  of  self-extension,  self-denial  must  come 
in,  and  the  temptation  to  appeal  to  loving  friends  at  home  must 
be  resisted  at  alt  costs. 

We  are  hearing  continually  of  the  deficits  of  missionary 
societies  ;  and  no  wonder,  when  their  funds  are  so  largely  em- 
ployed m  the  maintenance  of  native  Churches.  Numbers  of 
native  Christians  are  being  deprived  of  the  inestimable  privilege 
of  supporting  their  own  Church  by  the  mistaken  kindness  of 
missionaries  and  mis.Monary  societies.  Such  missionaries  and 
such  societies  are,  in  my  opinion,  inflicting  a  cruel  wrong  on 
those  native  Churches  whose  burdens  they  seek  to  bear.  They 
are  depriving  them  of  one  of  the  surest  means  of  growth  and 
development  to  maturity  of  Ufe  and  actkm. 

But  it  is  not  everywhere  that  so  many  Christians  come  into 
the  Church.  1    -e  are  fields  where  the  work  hat  been  carried 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  137 

on  for  years  with  wnll  direct  result,  where  the  missions  are 
supporting  great  and  expensive  schools  and  maintaining  many 
evangeUsts,  and  where  they  have  organised  churches  with  pastors 
whom  the  people  are  not  able,  or  do  not  think  tiiat  tiiey  are 
able,  to  support,  and  whose  salaries  are  paid  from  mission 
funds  while  they  preach  in  church  buildings  erected  and  main- 
tained by  mission  funds  and  in  mission  compounds.  There  are 
other  fields  where  the  work  has  been  fruitful,  but  where  the 
advance  propagation  is  in  the  hands  of  the  missions,  which 
employ  evangelists  and  helpers  who  itinerate  or  locate  over  con- 
gregations which  become  soon  self-supporting  churches.  Many 
practical  questions  arise  under  these  conditions  on  which  de- 
voted and  capable  missionaries  are  of  different  opinions.  Should 
foreign  money  be  used  for  the  employment  of  native  agents? 
If  so,  on  what  scale  and  with  what  limitations?  Should  pastors 
be  given  to  churches  unable  to  support  them  in  whole  or  in 
part?  If  not,  with  what  provision  for  entire  self-support  at 
the  proper  time?  Should  men  be  employed  whcnn  the  native 
Church,  if  it  were  in  charge,  would  not  employ,  or  for  salaries 
which  the  native  Oiurch  would  not  pay,  or  for  work  which 
it  would  not  do?  Should  church  buildings  be  erected  for  the 
people?  These  are  but  a  few  of  many  questions  which  con- 
stitute the  missionary's  daily  problem.  Back  of  them  all,  how- 
ever, we  may  press  to  two  fundamental  principles  which  may 
be  difficult  of  application,  but  which  are  not  likely  to  be  applied 
at  all  unless  we  see  them  and  resolve  to  adhere  to  them.  The 
first  is  that  we  are  not  to  set  up  and  maintain  with  our  foreign 
funds  institutions  or  ideals  which  do  not  enter  in  and  minister 
to  the  character  of  a  truly  natkmal  Church.  Foreign  standards 
of  salary,  of  architecture,  of  organisation,  are  natural  for  us. 
They  may  be  not  only  alien  but  crushing  to  the  native  Church. 
The  second  is  that  we  are  not  to  do  for  otiiers  what  tiiey  can 
and  ought  to  do  for  themselves.  There  is  no  kindness,  thert 
is  positive  harm  in  providing  for  r?.tive  :.^ents  and  native 
agencies  on  a  scale  and  for  purposes  which  are  beyond  what 
they  can  and  ought  to  provide  for  themtdves. 

The  prddem  which  is  presented  here  is  no  tuen  academic 


138 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


problem.  It  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death.  If  the  foreign  mis- 
sions are  to  be  charged  with  the  permanent  maintenance  of  the 
native  Churches  which  they  establish,  they  wiU  break  down  of 
their  own  weight  unless  the  native  Churches  themselves  decay 
from  a  want  of  exercise  of  the  functions  essential  to  life.  And 
the  native  Churches  will  scarcely  be  worth  maintaining,  as  they 
can  have  no  power  to  mould  a  national  life  in  which,  as  mere 
subsidised  projections  of  foreign  organisations,  th^  can  have  no 
vital  part. 

There  are  situations  in  the  mission  fields  which  teach  us 
the  vital  importance  of  the  issue.  One  of  them  was  set  forth 
at  the  monthly  meetmg  of  the  Calcutta  Missionary  Conference 
in  March,  1900.  The  following  account  of  the  Conference's 
consideration  of  "  Self-support  and  Self-propagation  in  the  Na- 
tive Churches,"  is  from  The  Indian  mtness  of  March  16,  igoo: 

A  VITAL  QUESTION  OF  THE  HOUR 

Seldom  has  it  fallen  to  our  lot  to  attend  a  more  depressing 
meeting  in  some  respects  than  the  monthly  meeting  of  the  Cal- 
cutta Missionary  Conference  held  last  Monday  evening.  The 
subject  for  consideration  was  "  Self-support  and  Self-propaga- 
tion in  the  Native  Churches,"  introduced  by  a  paper  read  by 
the  Rev.  W.  R.  Le  Quesne,  of  the  London  Missionary  Society. 
The  native  Churches  of  Bengal  were  especially  in  thought  De- 
dinmg  to  discuss  the  second  part  of  his  theme,  on  the  ground 
that  self-propagation  was  impossible  while  self-support  remained 
unachieved,  Mr.  Le  Quesne  pointed  out  that  after  a  hundred 
years  of  missionary  labours  in  Bengal  the  hopes  cherished  con- 
cernmg  self-support  appear  to  be  almost  as  far  from  fulfilment 
as  ever.  Important  experiments  made  by  the  English  Baptist 
brethren,  m  the  essayist's  judgment,  have  proved  by  no  means 
satisfactory.  He  could  not  accept  the  plea  of  poverty  on  the 
part  of  Bengali  Christians,  for  in  other  ser'  ons  of  India  where 
similar  social  conditions  prevail,  self-support  is  far  more  ad- 
vanced. It  is  sometimes  claimed  that  the  salaries  of  pastors  are 
higher  than  the  people  can  aflFord,  but  men  of  character  and 
efficiency  are  required,  and  these  must  have  sufficient  to  main- 
tain themselves  and  their  tamilies.  The  great  hindrance,  he 
thinks,  is  that  the  people  fail  to  realise  that  the  duty  of  Sttstein- 
uig  the  mstitutions  and  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  rests  upon 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  I39 


them.  Their  idea  is  that  the  mission  is  beholden  to  them,  under 
obligation  to  provide  everything  for  them,  while  the  true  con- 
ception should  be  the  reverse. 

When  we  inquire  as  to  how  self-supfwrt  and  independence 
may  be  developed,  an  important  consideration  is  the  co-operation 
of  the  various  societies,  which  too  frequently  overlap,  so  that 
in  some  places  tiiere  are  two,  three,  or  four  feeble  struggling 
churches  when  there  might  be  one  strong  self-sustaining  church. 
Union  of  forces  would  help  to  solve  the  problem.  The  grant-in- 
aid  system,  annually  reviewed  so  as  to  note  pn^ess,  was  advo- 
cated. Contributions  in  kind  should  be  encouraged;  also  thank- 
offerings.  In  some  places  it  would  be  helpful  if  churches  had 
plots  of  land  attached  on  which  pastors  could  raise  their  own 
rice,  etc.,  in  cultivating  which  their  people  might  help  with  labour. 
The  practice  in  Calcutta  of  Bengali  Christians  of  good  posittcm 
who  do  not  idoitify  themselves  with  Bengali  churches,  is  a  per- 
nicious one  and  should  be  discouraged  in  all  possible  ways.  In 
conclusion,  it  was  suggested  that  the  Conference  appoint  a  special 
committee  to  take  the  whole  subject  into  most  careful  con- 
sideration. 

The  discussion  which  followed  was  a  most  interesting  one — 
painfully  interesting  in  one  point  of  view.  Every  missionary 
speaker  took  a  gloomy  view  of  the  present  spiritual  condition  of 
the  Bengali  Churches, — a  view  not  demurred  to  by  the  Bengali 
brethren  who  spoke;  and  no  one  appeared  to  feel  encouraged 
as  to  the  prospects  for  improvement  in  this  respect  or  regardmg 
the  attainment  of  self-support  in  the  near  future.  The  situation 
seems  to  be  someimng  akin  to  the  military  situation  in  South 
Africa  prior  to  the  arrival  of  Lord  Roberts.  Embarrassment, 
perplexity,  inability  to  surmount  the  difficulties  which  present 
themselves  prevail.  Who  will  show  the  way  out?  As  a  lady 
missionary,  whose  words  on  this  point  we  quoted  last  week, 
says :  "  We  need  a  Moses  to  lead  us  out  of  the  bondage  of 
parwarish  (dependence  for  support  on  others).  ...  I  myself 
feel  that  a  crisis  of  some  sort  is  impending,  and  that  we  gready 
need  wise  generalship."  Rev.  A.  Paton  Begg,  L.  M.  S.,  regretted 
the  paper  had  not  taken  up  the  question  of  self-propagation.  He 
was  unable  to  see  the  great  advantages  to  arise  from  securing 
independence  of  village  churches.  Better  they  should  realise 
themselves  a  part  of  a  greater  and  stronger  whole.  He  recom- 
mended the  deepening  of  spiritual  life  and  the  preadui^  of  the 
more  practical  Christian  duties. 

The  most  notable  contribution  to  the  discussion  was  that  fur- 
nished by  the  Rev.  I.  W.  Charlton,  of  the  Church  Missionary 


I40        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


Society.  He  pointed  out  that  one  practical  difficulty  in  the  way 
of  self-support  is  the  universal  indebtedness  under  which  the 
village  people  groan.  They  are  in  bondage  to  the  mdhajans,  and 
while  these  conditions  prevail  an  aggressive  church  cannot  be 
developed.  Some  practical  method  of  delivering  our  Christian 
people  out  of  the  hands  of  the  tnahdjans  is  a  first  necessity. 
Then,  we  should  do  our  best  to  make  the  provision  of  pastors 
and  other  workers  for  our  village  Christians  as  inexpensive  as 
possible.  If  Bengali  Christians  should  be  gotten  out  of  debt  and 
pastors  become  available  whose  salaries  are  not  two  or  three 
times  the  average  income  of  the  people,  independence  would  be 
in  sight.  The  people  strongly  object  to  be  obliged  to  educate 
their  pastors'  sons  and  dress  their  daughters.  If  some  pro- 
vision of  scholarships  for  the  children  could  be  made,  the  ques- 
tion would  be  simplified.  Much  interest  was  awakened  by  Mr. 
Charlton's  impressive  appeal  to  the  missionaries  to  aid  in  organ- 
ising a  united  Bengali  Church.  Let  all  come  together  and  prayer- 
fully consider  such  a  possibility.  Laying  aside  all  non-essentials, 
accepting  a  foundation  the  few  fundamental  truths  on  which 
all  arc  -  ,ed,  why  should  not  there  be  one  Bengali  Church? 
It  was  pointed  out  that  God  has  wonderfully  kept  the  way  op«i 
for  such  a  consummation ;  for  the  native  Christian  families  of 
Bengal  have  not  crystallised  into  churches  very  readily.  A 
father  may  be  an  agent  of  the  Church  of  England,  while  the 
son  is  attending  a  Wesleyan  day  school,  another  member  of  the 
fomdy  bemj  i  Baptist  Bible  reader,  and  so  on.  If  a  united 
Bengali  Chv  ch  be  only  a  dream,  let  us  cease  talking  about  it; 
but  if  it  be  a  possibility  it  should  be  taken  hoM  of  with  practical 
earnestness. 

Mr.  Kali  Charan  Banurji  said  he  had  no  desire  to  extenuate 
any  of  the  things  laid  at  the  door  of  the  native  Christians,  nor 
to  emphasise  the  responsibilities  resting  on  missions  and  mission- 
aries. He  differed  from  the  writer  of  the  paper,  believing  that 
self-propagation  must  precede  self-support.  An  individual  must 
be  a  missionary  before  he  is  technically  a  minister.  As  a  mis- 
sionary he  wins  a  soul,  then  he  becomes  a  pastor  to  feed  that 
soul.  When  our  churches  become  self-propagating— winners  of 
souls— they  must  feed  and  sustain  these  souls.  In  regard  to 
support  of  pastors,  the  question  is  one  of  men.  not  of  money. 
He  had  in  thought  a  churdi  which,  if  able  to  provide  support 
for  a  pastor,  absolutely  had  no  man  in  view  to  calf  to  the  position, 
tir  ™  participated  in  the  discussion  were  the  Revs. 

W.R.  James  and  A.  Jewson,  B.  M.  S.,  P.  M.  Mookerjee,  S.  P.  G., 
and  the  writer.    Mr.  James  thought  the  difficulty  of  getting 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  141 

missionaries  to  come  to  a  ^mmon  understanding'  a  serious  one. 
We  have  begun  by  expectine  too  little  of  our  Christians.  All 
contributions  from  the  Societies  towards  buildii^,  repuring,  and 
maintenance  of  chapels  should  be  stopped  at  once.  Mr.  Jewson 
expressed  the  conviction  that  a  closer  union  between  the  Bengali 
Christians  and  Christ  would  powerfully  tend  to  make  self-support 
possible.  Few  Bengali  Christians  have  any  true  knowledge  of 
Qirist,  though  they  know  about  Him.  Rejoicing  in  the  ex- 
ceptions, the  majority  of  those  who  minister  to  Bengali  Chris- 
tians are  simply  imitators  of  missionaries,  retailing  the  things 
they  have  heard  them  say.  Missionaries'  meagre  vocabulary 
limits  the  scope  of  their  teaching,  hence  the  imitative  teaching 
of  native  ministers  is  of  an  inadequate  type.  Mr.  Mookerjee 
entreated  the  missionaries  to  make  a  banning  in  the  direction 
of  a  united  Church.  The  native  Churches  as  they  are  now,  are 
what  the  missionaries  have  made  them.  "  Take  us  as  you  find 
us.  Make  a  beginning  here  in  Calcutta.  As  the  mission  work 
has  been  a  failure  up  to  the  present,  let  there  be  a  new  departttre 
and  see  what  it  may  do  for  the  native  Church."  A  speaker 
said  that  in  view  of  what  he  had  heard,  the  feeling  came  to  him 
that  it  would  be  a  blessing  to  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Bengal 
if  every  foreign  missionary  were  deported,  and  the  Benrali 
Christians  left  to  woric  out  the  problem  of  a  standing  or  iuaag 
Church  with  such  resources  as  they  possess.  It  is  an  appalling 
state  of  things  that  at  the  close  of  a  century  of  ndssMWary  labours 
the  prospect  for  self-support  and  indq)cndeiice  is  so  i^obmy  and 
unpromising. 

It  is  to  be  regretted,  we  think,  that  the  suggesti<m  nnde  hy 
the  reader  of  the  paper  was  not  adopted.  The  worthy  chairman 
thought  a  good  way  to  shelve  further  development  of  the  agita- 
tion would  be  to  appoint  a  committee.  We  find  ourselves  com- 
pelled to  differ  from  him.  A  committee  ought  at  once  to  take 
hold  of  this  vital  question  in  the  interests  of  the  Church  that  is 
to  be,  and  see  if  there  is  not  some  practicable  plan  by  which  even 
an  approximate  solution  of  the  problem  may  be  arrived  at.  Is 
the  state  of  things  which  now  exists  in  Bengal  to  be  perpetuated 
for  another  century?  It  will,  unless  some  aggressive  practical 
action  is  taken.  It  is  a  most  humiliating  position.  The  Evan- 
gelical Churches  are  compelled  to  admit  that  their  earnest  en- 
d«ivours  through,  say,  t!iree  generations,  have  ignominiously 
failed  to  establish  anything  that  might  with  a  semblance  of  truth 
be  regarded  as  self-supporting  work.  The  most  depressing 
featur  .•  of  the  situation  is  that  there  is  not  the  ghMt  of  a  remedy 
in  act  aal  si^t  It  would  be  profitable  were  nwdonariet  to  drop 


143        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


all  outside  work  for  a  season  and  give  their  undivided  and  best 
thought  to  this  most  important  problem.  We  hope  the  Calcutta 
Missionary  Conference  will  grapple  with  it  in  such  a  statesman- 
like way  as  to  remedy  the  blunders  of  the  past  and  save  the 
Christian  Church  of  from  awMher  century  of  tutdi^ 

and  in^otenqr. 

This  is  doubtless  a  too  discouraged  view.  It  diows,  however, 

that  missionaries  are  their  own  most  merciless  critics,  and  it 
indicates  the  penalty  that  the  future  pays  for  any  past  failure  to 
incorporate  in  the  character  a  native  Church  one  of  its 
fundamental  and  indispensable  elements. 

It  is  on  the  problem  of  self-government,  which  is  the  easiest 
problem  of  the  three,  and  which,  if  the  other  two  are  solved, 
will  entirely  take  care  of  itself,  tiiat  attention  is  usually  fixed. 
This  has  been  because  with  our  Western  haste  and  passion  for 
order  and  mechanism  we  have  carried  organisation  ahead  of 
life.  Partly  so,  partly  because  we  have  often  found  the  work 
hard  and  have  been  thrown  back  on  siege  methods  and  have 
had  to  wait  longest  for  what  we  desired  most.  Also,  the 
whisper  of  nationality,  far  away,  has  often  in  good  providence 
breatited  eaiiy  in  the  hearts  of  Ac  new  Christians.  The  problem 
lies  inevitably  in  the  situation.  Men  of  two  nationalities,  repre- 
senting two  Churches,  one  a  foreign  Cl.jrch  far  away,  the  other 
tiie  new  native  Church  now  at  hand,  are  vroricing  together  for 
certain  ends.  What  are  their  ends?  How  are  Hbey  to  be  rdated 
in  their  work  for  them? 

Their  great  end,  as  we  conceive  it,  is  the  evangelisation  of 
tile  worid,  and  widi  this  and  what  is  to  flow  frmn  it  in  view, 
the  establishment  in  all  lands,  and  primarily  in  this  particular 
land,  of  an  independent  national  Churdi  which  will  fulfil  its 
own  mission  and  destii^.  And  an  indq)endent  naticmal  Churdi 
we  hold  to  be  o  whidi  is  genuinely  independent  and  national, 
which  has  no  organic,  ecclesiastical  connection  with  any  foreign 
Church,  which  is  under  no  foreign  bishop  or  Church  council, 
which  is  as  free  and  automnnons  as  the  nation  is  or  would  be, 
and  with  a  character  and  identity  which  lay  it  eye  to  eye, 
hand  to  hand,  mouth  to  mouth,  heart  to  heart,  like  the  prophet, 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  143 

upon  the  body  of  its  people.  Now,  to  that  Church  as  our  ideal, 
in  its  indpiency  or  in  its  advancing  devdofMnent,  what  is  to 
be  the  rdation  of  the  foreign  mission  and  its  fore^  agents? 

First  of  all,  the  Western  Churches  at  a  distance  and  their 
representatives  near  at  hand  are  to  take  up  the  most  cordial 
and  generous  attitude  toward  the  ideal  of  freedom  mi  tbt 
measure  of  attainment  which  the  native  Church  may  have 
reached.  Any  coldness  or  sceptical  criticism  is  disloyalty  to  the 
very  aim  of  tiie  foreign  missionary  enterprise.  These  Churches 
have  a  probiem  upon  them  of  the  most  crushing  gravity.  They 
are  seeking  against  the  charge  of  unpatriotism  and  filial  treason 
to  make  a  home  in  their  national  life  for  the  ideas  which  belong 
there  and  tite  i.'>wer  which  ak»e  can  fvdeem,  while  tiiese  arc 
the  very  things  which  are  mistaken!,  ,  i-ded  as  alien  and 
treasonable.  The  success  with  which  tne>  .lave  met  has  been 
wonderful  It  has  been  our  own  success.  We  should  rej(»ce 
in  it,  and  in  every  way  m  our  poww  cacomige  tfiese  Qaadm 
to  go  on. 

But  the  practical  question  remains.  These  Churches  are 
definite  organisations  w^  an  estabit^ed  juris(&tion.  What 
relation  shall  missionaries  have  to  them,  and  shall  they  have  to  the 
foreign  missions  ?  Three  answers  are  given  among  Presbyterians : 

(1)  It  is  proposed  that  the  missionaries  should  have  a  dual 
relationship,  tiut  they  diouid  remain  die  representatives  of  tfidr 
home  Churches  and  subject  to  their  jurisdiction,  while  at  the 
same  time  they  should  sit  as  full  members  of  the  native  Church 
councils  or  as  assessors  widi  the  r%ht  to  vote,  but  independent 
of  their  jurisdiction  save  as  to  work  done  in  the  name  of 
the  native  Church.  This  is  the  plan  which  has  been  adopted 
in  the  case  of  the  English  Presbyterian  missionaries  in  China 
and  the  Scotdi  Presbyterian  nrissiMuirks  in  In^  It  has  been 
ruled  that  any  such  dual  relationship  is  contrary  to  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
AnKrica ;  that  a  minister  cannot  be  a  member  of  two  presbyteries, 
much  less  of  two  independent  national  Churches. 

(2)  It  is  proposed  that  the  missionaries  should  withdraw 
from  their  homt  presbyteries  or  other  courts  and  become 


144        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


bers  exclusively  of  the  native  presbyteries  or  courts.  This  is 
what  some  of  die  American  Presbyterian  missionaries  have  done 
in  China  and  India  and  other  lands,  where  independent  Churches 
have  been  established.  It  is  what  the  Irish  missionaries  did  in 
Manchuria.  Dr.  Ross  tells  us :  "  In  connection  with  the 
establishment  of  the  Presbytery,  the  Iri^  missionaries  did  a 
generous  thing.  Originally,  they  were  ecclesiastically  connected 
with  the  presbytery  by  which  they  had  been  ordained,  though 
they  had  an  organic  connection  with  the  General  Assembly.  As 
one  man  cannot  properly  be  a  member  of  two  presbyteries,  the 
Irish  members  proposed  to  sever  their  connection  with  the  home 
presbytery,  in  order  to  be  free  to  become  members  of  the  presby- 
tery of  Manchuria. 

"At  our  first  presbytery  meeting  it  was  resolved  also  that 
the  native  presbytery  would  have  no  control  over  the  funds 
or  the  persons  from  abroad.  Each  society  on  the  field  would 
still  continue  to  hold  the  same  relations  to  tiie  home  Boards 
as  formerly.  But  the  native  presbytery  would  have  control  of 
all  funds  contributed  by  the  native  Church,  and  of  all  other 
Church  matters  whatsoever  appertaining  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Manchuria.  It  would  define  the  terms  of  admission 
into  the  Church,  the  causes  and  modes  of  discipline;  it  would 
take  charge  of  the  conduct  of  worship  and  the  administration 
of  all  Church  affairs.  The  presbytery  is  meantime  the  sapreme 
court  of  the  Church."— (Ross,  "Mission  Methods  in  Man- 
churia," p.  126  ff.) 

(3)  It  is  proposed  tiut  the  missionaries  should  retain  their 
ecclesiastical  connection  with  the  Churches  which  they  represent, 
sitting,  if  desired,  as  corresponding  members  in  the  native  Church 
councils,  as  they  might  do  if  visiting  and  working  in  any  land, 
and  giving  all  tiieir  aid  and  support  to  the  native  Church,  but 
not  taking  up  any  organic  ecclesiastical  relationship  to  it. 

Now,  it  has  been  argued  with  unquestionable  validity  that 
there  are  no  proof  texts  hi  the  Bible  with  which  to  support 
this  third  view.  (Article  quoted  in  The  Indian  Witness,  De- 
cember 12,  1907. )  And  we  admit  that  the  view  that  a  missionary 
should  never  identify  himself  ecclesiastically  with  a  native 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  14S 


Church  cannot  be  set  up  as  a  fundamental  principle.  Whether 
he  should  do  so  or  not  depends  upon  what  tiie  effect  of  his  ooturse 
will  be  upon  the  realisation  of  the  ideal  of  a  truly  independent 
national  Church.  We  are  disposed  to  believe,  however,  that 
that  ideal  and  the  distinction  which  certainly  exists  between  such 
a  Church  and  a  foreign  missionary  agency  can  best  be  served 
by  the  missionary's  retention  of  his  home  connection,  by  the 
preservation  of  the  integrity  of  the  native  Church  as  a  national 
organisation,  and  by  separate  but  co-operative  activity. 

(i)  If  the  confusion  is  once  begun,  it  is  difficult  to  keep  it 
from  being  carried  too  far.  Alexander  Duff  discovered  this 
fifty  years  ago.  Mr.  Day  tells  us  the  story  frankly  in  his 
account  of  his  master.  He  says  that  he  and  his  native  asso- 
ciates saw  no  reason  why,  upon  their  ordination,  they  should 
not  be  made  members  of  the  mission  Council,  just  as  Dr.  Duff 
and  the  other  missionaries  were  members  of  tiie  presbytery, 
that  every  ordained  native  was  as  much  entitled  to  a  seat  in 
the  mission  as  the  ordained  missionaries,  and  that  the  distinction 
between  the  European  and  the  Indian  was  contrary  not  only 
to  the  principle  of  Presbyterian  parity,  but  to  tfic  esaence  and 
spirit  of  Christianity  itself.— (Day,  "  Recollections  of  Duff,"  pp. 
210-216.)  The  position  was  strongly  taken.  If  the  ideal  of  a 
genuine  native  Church  was  to  be  given  up,  why  not  also  the 
ideal  of  a  gentiine  foreign  mission?  What  is  the  use  of  pre- 
serving one  if  you  abandon  the  other?  One  confusion  ma"  a« 
well  lead  to  the  other.  The  confusion  involves  even  more  to- 
day, for  tht  worH  of  women  in  foreign  missiom  has  almott 
entirely  grown  up  since  that  day,  and  that  work  needs  to  be 
administered,  and  for  the  most  part  is  administered,  as  an  in- 
tegral part  of  the  whole  work  of  missions.  Now,  unless  ecdesi- 
astioU  ideas  are  radically  changed,  tiie  women  missionarfet 
cannot  become  members  of  Church  courts.  But  the  oblitera- 
tions of  distinction  between  such  courts  and  missions  will  leave 
women  witlxmt  that  rdationship  to  their  own  work  tad  the 
other  work  of  the  mission  as  such,  in  its  integrity,  whidi 
capable  women  will  more  and  vaon,  and  not  less  and  less,  re- 
gard as  indispensable. 


146 


CHRISnANTTY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


(2)  A  truly  self-conscious  national  Church  will  not  feel 
able  to  perpetuate  the  idea  of  a  large  voting  membership  subject 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  a  foreign  body.  When  the  Synod  of 
Central  China  was  organised  in  Nanking  in  1906  the  Chinese 
resolutely  refused  to  tolerate  the  plan.  For  foreigners  to  cease 
nominally  to  be  foreigners  and  to  become  Chinese  churchmen 
was  an  endurable  conception,  but  not  the  anomalous  arrange- 
ment of  the  possession  of  authority  without  submission  to  juris- 
diction. 

(3)  If  it  is  said  that  this  arrangement  has  been  accepted 
by  some  Chinese  Church  courts  and  has  been  welcomed  by  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  India,  it  may  be  replied  that  that  is 
the  sad  element  in  the  situation,  that  there  are  native  Churches 
which  do  not  aesi.c  independence,  and  which  shrink  from  tak- 
ing up  their  national  destiny.  They  wish  to  have  the  connection 
either  organic  or  actual  with  the  Western  Churches.  The  very 
evil  of  the  plan  is  that  it  weakens  their  sense  of  responsibility. 
They  do  not  take  up  their  financial  burden;  it  is  easier  to  lay 
the  problem  upon  the  foreij,n  Church.  They  do  not  deal  with 
their  distinctive  duty  and  the  racial  difficulties  which  press 
upon  them.  Their  mission  is  blurred  over  and  indistinct. 

(4)  And  even  if  the  missionary  wholly  gives  up  his  home 
connectum  and  joins  the  native  Church  alone,  has  he  really  done 
so?  Is  he  no  more  a  foreigner?  Does  he  rest  down  upon 
and  derive  from  the  native  people  and  congregations  who  are 
the  substance  of  the  native  Church?  Is  he  part  of  the  nationality 
>%hich  is  to  be  expressed  in  the  native  Church  and  which  is 
to  grow  out  from  it?  Is  he  no  more  the  representative  and 
flesh  and  blood  son  of  that  other  Church  and  that  other  na- 
tionality to  which  he  looks  as  to  race  and  home,  to  which  he 
expects  at  least  from  time  to  time  to  return,  and  to  report  as 
to  the  errand  with  which  that  other  Church  and  that  other 
race  chained  htm  in  their  fulfilment  of  their  missions?  The 
editor  of  the  Indian  Standard  observes :  "  The  missioiiariet  think 
that  they  have  cut  themselves  off  from  the  home  Church  and 
fully  identified  themselves  with  the  Church  in  India,  but  of 
course  they  have  really  done  nothing  of  the  kind.  They  art 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  147 

all  under  their  respective  mission  boards,  which  are  committees 
of  the  home  Churches.  The  true  presbytery  knows  nothing  of 
a  bo^  of  ministers  fn»n  a  foreign  land,  outnomberii^^  the 
native  ministry  and  independent  of  it,  and  yet  dominating  all 
presbyterial  action  by  their  vote,  and  the  expedient  of  cutting 
the  ecclesiastical  tie  with  home  does  not  solve  the  problem.  .  .  . 
At  presmt  the  missionaries  are  virtually  in  the  position  of  the 
House  of  Lords,  with  this  advantage,  that  they  sit  and  vote 
in  both  houses."  The  native  leaders  are  not  slow  to  see  that 
the  missionary  is  not  really  subject  to  the  native  Churdi.  When 
a  missionary  in  Japan  said  that  he  regarded  himself  as  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Japanese  Church,  Mr.  Uyemura  replied: 
"The  missionaries  who  have  joined  our  presbvteries  are  in  no 
true  sense  integral  parts  of  the  Japanese  Church.  They  are 
members  in  name,  but  in  fact  they  arc  under  the  control  of  an 
outside  organisation."— (Quoted  in  Brown,  "  The  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary," pp.  314,  315.) 

(5)  Whatever  our  judgment  as  to  method,  however,  the 
principle  which  we  must  keep  clear  and  which  must  be  served 
by  whatever  we  do  is  the  principle  of  a  truly  independent  Church 
resting  on  the  life  of  a  people  and  leading  their  steps.  What 
we  do  in  the  way  of  method  and  relationship  is  right  or  wrong 
as  it  advances  or  retards  the  triumph  of  that  principle.  How 
to  decide  what  is  right  is  one  of  tiM  hardest  problems  fai  mis- 
sionary administration.  The  Ethiopian  movement  in  South 
Africa,  which,  as  his  biographer  says,  broke  Coillard's  heart, 
has  been  one  of  the  most  vivid  recent  illustrations  of  the  diffi- 
culty. That  movement  has  emteaced  many  in^mlset  and  di- 
vergent motives,  but  its  central  principle  was  a  desire  for 
Church  autonomy,  combined  with  a  desire  for  racial  unity,  a 
dim  feeling  after  a  national  destiny  on  the  part  of  a  considenUe 
number  of  the  negroes  of  South  Africa.  "  The  Church  Sepan^tt 
or  Ethiopian  Movement,"  said  the  Native  Affairs  Commissioners 
in  their  first  report,  "  has  as  its  origin  a  desire  on  the  part  of 
a  section  of  the  Chrittianised  tu^vct  to  be  freed  from  eontrcd 
by  European  Churches.  Its  ranks  are  recruited  from  every 
denomination  carrying  on  extensive  operations  in  South  Africa, 


148        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


and  there  is  in  each  case  little  or  no  doctrinal  divergence  from 
the  tenets  of  the  parent  Church,  though  it  is  alleged,  and  the 
Commission  fears  with  trudi,  that  relaxed  strictness  in  the  moral 
standard  maintained  frequently  follows.  It  is  the  outcome  of 
a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  natives  for  ecclesiastical  self-support 
and  self-control,  first  taking  tangible  form  in  the  secession  of 
discmtented  and  restless  spirits  from  rdigious  bodies  under  the 
supervision  of  European  missionaries."  The  movement  had  "  a 
great  influence  upon  Dr.  James  Stewart's  last  years,"  Dr.  Wells 
tells  us.  "It  was  one  of  the  sorest  disappointments  of  his 
life  and  yet  it  contributed  to  the  fulfilment  of  one  of  his  greatest 
dreams." — (Wells,  "Life  of  James  Stewart,"  p.  287.)  It 
wrought  no  end  of  harm  as  Dr.  Stewart  viewed  its  fruits, 
but  it  embodied  his  idea  of  a  truly  native  Church,  ruling  itself. 
And  it  represented  a  great  and  noble  craving.  The  second 
report  of  the  Native  Affairs  Commissioners  sets  forth  the  facts 
dispassionately : 

"  The  idea  of  secession,"  says  Mr.  Sargant  in  his  report  on 
native  education,  "  is  probably  not  due  only,  or  primarily,  to  a 
wish  on  the  part  of  the  native  leaders  to  manage  their  ecclesi- 
astical ufMn  for  tiiemselYes,  but  also  to  a  real  longing  for 
national  union  through  a  single  spiritual  head  of  the  Church." 
And  he  points  out  that,  owing  to  the  distinctions  of  tribe  and 
language  by  which  the  natives  are  divided,  it  was  natural  that 
this  natioiul  fediag  should  find  its  first  expresskm  through 
Christianity.  Similar  views  are  expressed  by  the  Rev.  F.  B. 
Bridgman  in  a  paper  on  the  Ethiopian  Movement  read  before 
the  Missionary  Conference  in  Natal.  "  The  fact,"  he  says,  "  that 
a  great  race,  hitherto  content  to  grovel,  has  at  last  begun  to 
jspire  is  momentous."  And  the  Coadjutor-Bishop  of  Cape 
Town,  who,  as  chaplain  to  the  Order  of  Ethiopia,  had  special 
<q>portttfiities  for  observfaig  the  inner  working  and  sfririt  of  the 
movement,  declares  emphatically  that  its  "root-principle  is,  I 
believe,  patriotism;  in  other  words,  the  self-assertion  of  a  grow- 
ing a.>:!onal  life."  .  .  .  "  It  is  perhaps  surprising  that  so  able  a 
body  of  men  ai  the  leading  Sotith  Africa  mit^MMrief ,  with  their 
long  and  intimate  •xpuim of  cathrt  affiirt,  •hoitld  in  tliia 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  149 

instance  have  failed  so  signally  to  read  the  signs  of  the  times. 
Had  they  gauged  the  position  more  accurately,  it  is  conceivably 
that  they  might  have  been  able  to  direct  the  movement  into  safe 
chaniMis,  and  to  have  diverted  painful  breaches  between  native 
Churches  and  their  parent  missions.  But  the  workings  of  the 
native  mind  have  often  proved  inscrutable  to  the  white  man." 

Both  the  ideal  and  the  abase  have  tfieir  lesson  for  us,  that 
we  may  walk  wisely. 

In  Japan  the  question  of  relations  between  the  missions  and 
the  native  Churches  is  presented  in  a  far  more  advanced  stage. 
There  are  three  large  independent  Oiurches— the  Kumiai  or  Con- 
gregational, the  Church  of  Christ  or  Presbyterian,  and  the 
Methodist.  Each  is  ecclesiastically  free.  In  the  case  of  the 
Methodist  Churches,  the  relation  of  the  foreign  mitsimiaries  is 
covered  in  die  figuring  ad^ndum  to  the  Basts  of  Union: 

The  relation  of  the  Churches  in  the  United  States  and  in 
Canada  to  Ae  Metiiodist  Church  of  Japan  shall  be  co-operative, 
and  the  appropriations  made  from  time  to  time  by  the  several 
missionary  organisations  for  work  in  Japan  shall  be  regarded 
as  auxiliary  to  the  work  of  the  Methodist  Church  of  Japan 
(Nippon  Methodist  Kyokwai),  and  be  administered  accordingly. 

The  supreme  and  only  reason  for  the  presence  of  Methodist 
missionaries  in  Japan  is  to  aid  in  bringing  Japan  to  Christ  at 
the  earliest  possible  day.  In  order  to  carry  out  this  purpose,  the 
Methodist  Churches  of  the  United  States  and  of  Canada  must 
continue  to  bear  their  part  of  the  burden  which  rests  upon  tfje 
Methodist  Churdi  of  Japan,  and  continue  to  send  foreign  mis- 
sionaries to  Japan,  under  the  three  Boards  of  Missions  taking 
part  in  this  Union,  in  such  numbers  and  for  such  periods  as  may 
by  these  Boards  be  deemed  necessarjr  for  the  accomplishment  of 
the  object  above  stated.  These  missionaries  shall  hold  their 
Conference  relation  in  their  home  conferences  and  shall  be  sup- 
ported wholly  by  tb«r  respective  Boards  of  Missions  until  re- 
called. 

In  recognition  of  this  aid  from  the  American  Churches,  and 
of  his  services  to  the  Church  in  Japan,  every  such  missionary 
shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  membership 
in  the  Annual  Conference  to  which  his  woric  for  the  preceding 
year  has  been  related,  except  on  questJons  In  wWdi  the  chanettr 
or  Cbnfcrtnce  rdttkm  oi  Japanese  ftmdicri  is  iavoived. 


I50 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


The  Church  of  Christ,  or  Presbyterian  Church  in  Japan,  allows 
missionaries  to  become  associate  members  of  the  presbyteries  if 
they  are  members  of  missions  recognised  by  the  Synod  as  co- 
operating with  the  Church.  Associate  members  do  not  have  the 
power  to  vote.  "  A  co-operating  mission,"  by  the  definition  of 
the  Synod,  "  is  one  which  recognises  the  right  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  in  Japan  to  the  general  care  of  all  the  evangelistic  woric  doat 
by  the  mission  as  a  mission  within  the  Church  or  in  connectkm 
with  it;  and  which  carries  on  such  work  under  an  arrange- 
ment based  upon  the  foregoing  principle  and  concurred  in  by 
the  Synod  acting  through  the  Board  of  Missions."  This  defini- 
tion followed  a  statement  of  the  ideals  and  desires  of  this  Church, 
which  it  addressed  to  the  missionary  societies  which  had  estab- 
lished it,  as  follows: 

It  is  now  more  than  thirty  years  since  the  Church  was  first 
founded,  and  already  it  has  a  history  that  may  rightly  be  de- 
scribed as  eventful.  Among  its  ministers  and  private  membera 
there  are  many  who  are  well  deserving  of  respect  It  extends 
from  one  end  of  Japan  to  the  other,  and  carries  on  its  woric 
through  a  Synod,  presbyteries,  and  congregations.  It  has  a 
Board  of  Missions  actively  engaged  in  the  work  of  evangelisation 
and  the  establishment  of  churches.  Therefore,  it  seems  to  it 
reasonable  to  claim  that  it  has  a  right  to  a  voice  in  all  work 
carried  on  withm  its  organisation  or  closely  connected  wiUi  it. 
That  is  the  principle  for  which  the  Synod  stands;  and  for  which 
it  believes  that  Churches  in  other  lands,  under  like  circumstances, 
would  stand. 

The  c|uestion  of  co-operation  has  agitated  the  Church  and 
the  missions  from  time  to  time  for  neariy  fifteen  years;  and 
there  are  those  who  think  the  agitation  uncalled  for,  since  co- 
operation is  already  a  matter  of  fact.  Whether  it  is  a  matter  of 
fact  or  not  depends  upon  the  sense  in  which  the  word  co-opera- 
tion is  used.  The  fact  that  the  missions  employ  evangelists,  aid 
in  the  support  of  pastors,  estaUish  and  maintain  preachmg  places, 
while  at  the  same  time  they  also,  in  fact,  practically  retain  such 
matters  solely  within  their  own  control,  does  not  m  itself  con- 
stitute co-operation;  if  by  co-operation  is  meant  s.  co- working 
which  recognises  the  principle  for  which  the  Synod  stands.  Even 
though  the  work  done  extends  the  Church,  the  system  as  a  ^stem 
is  that  of  an  imptrum  m  imptrio. 


\ 


MISaONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  151 

The  co-operation  which  the  Church  seeks  is  a  o(H»eration 
of  die  missicms  as  missions  with  the  Church  as  a  Church.  The 
missions  and  the  Churdi,  acting  as  independent  organisations, 
should  make  dear  and  definite  arrangements  with  each  other 
under  the  principle  set  forth;  and  the  work  of  the  missions 
as  missions  carried  on  within  or  in  close  connection  with  the 
organisation  of  the  Church  should  be  controlled  by  such  arrange- 
ments. Co-operation  stould  find  a  partial  analogy  in  the  alliance 
between  Enj^tsd  and  Ji^an;  not  in  the  relations  between  J^Mta 
and  Korea. 

The  Congregational  diurches  have  had  a  different  problem 
because  of  tiietr  individualistic  polity.  The  spirit  of  independ- 
ence was  naturally  strong  in  them,  and  they  have  had  for  years 
no  connection  with  the  American  Congregational  churches,  and 
now  have  taken  over  the  care  of  every  church  which  tiie  vaitr 
siraaries  were  aiding,  leaving  the  mission  as  an  evangelistic 
agency  free  from  every  relationship  to  an  organised  congrega- 
tion. What  results  may  flow  from  the  mission  work  the  Church 
will  absorb,  b»t  there  is  an  absdute  independence  between  tiw 
native  Church  and  the  foreign  mission.  It  is  even  proposed 
by  the  Kirisutokyo  Sekai,  a  Japanese  CongregationaUst  paper, 
which  seems  to  have  haxy  ideas  of  what  a  real  sat-mppor^ 
independence  is,  to  dissolve  the  foreign  mission  altogether  and 
absorb  its  members  as  individuals  in  the  Japanese  Church  so  loi^ 
as  they  stay  in  Japan,  their  work  as  a  mission,  in  its  view,  being 
now  at  an  end.   (Quoted  in  the  Japan  Tmts,  June  aS,  1908.) 

We  appeal  next  to  tfie  misnonaries.  In  the  first  place  that 

you  would  dissolve  your  mission  church  and  join  the  Kumi-ai 
churdies  in  those  places  where  you  severally  reside.  You  have 
come  here  for  the  purpose  of  converting  Japan,  and  there  is  no 
reason  for  not  unituig  with  our  churches.  Then  without  hesita- 
tion become  associate  members  of  oar  Missiimary  Sode^,  and 
take  part  in  all  its  evangelistic  work  under  tiie  direction  of 
the  Society.  Of  course,  as  individual  members  and  workers 
you  would  share  with  us  appropriate  duties  and  responsibilities, 
and  stand  in  the  same  rank  as  we.  Could  we  not  then  say  for 
the  first  time  tfat  you  were  really  promoting  tfie  conversion  of 
Japan  ? 

If  we  were  to  state  our  ideal  it  is  this,  that  as  there  is  neither 
male  nor  f anah  in  the  Clnirch,  lo  then  should  te  atitfatr  nthra 


isa        CHRISTIANIXy  AND  THE  NATIONS 

nor  foreigner  among  Church  workers,  but  those  who  have  ability 
and  aggressive  power  should  be  caUed  to  work  in  churches  as 
pastors  and  evangelists,  and  fai  schools  as  teachers  of  theology 
and  lat^fttages.  Certainly  the  principles  of  finance  should  be 
followed  and  we  should  be  satisfied  with  salaries  fitting  our 
labours  and  position.  This  emphatically  would  be  to  gam  the 
respect  and  following  of  a  foreign  nation.  But  if  this  is  mere 
talk  and  impossible  of  reahsation  at  once,  then  at  least  let  the 
miMionanes  take  steps  to  dissolve  their  mission  church  and 
become  members  of  our  churches  and  Missionary  Society.  Then 
the  Amencan  Board,  whenever  any  important  question  like  the 
sending  out  of  new  missionaries  arises,  would  naturaUy  consult 
with  our  Missionary  Society.  ^  wuau« 

We  hear  that  since  the  war  began  some  of  the  great  com- 
meraal  houses  are  deeply  considering  the  future.  Those  houses 
IS ^f?*  ^'"siness  are  wondering  whether  it  is 

not  best  to  abolish  foreign  management,  and  pass  over  the  local 
branches  to  natives  of  the  respective  countries,  retaining  foreign- 
ers for  duty  simply  in  matters  pertaining  to  their  own  country, 
tven  for  business  houses  this  plan  is  no  miscalculation,  since  it 
would  be  a  pm  for  both  sides.  We  are  ashamed  that  this 
J^n™,«.!i"*  °"g"*^  «»  religious  worid,  but  was  first 
announced  from  tiie  business  world.    As  for  immediate  and 

'"u''"  ^l"^"  noHamg,  there  are  numerous 

better  done.  ^  We  hope  that  the  American  Board 

Jli  „^^.?^^"*  °^  ^"  ^'^^  to  have  the  honour  of 

teking  this  decisive  step.  Foreign  missions  were  originally  un- 
dertaken m  the  hope  iJiat  native  Churches  would  attain  to  in- 
?^  •  "1  self-support.  Now  the  prayers  of  all  earnest 
UTT  •  'r^^  ^'"8^  answered,  and  the  time  is  come 
Stk  r  ^""»-*!.Church  to  proclaim  an  independence  that  agrees 
with  facts.  Will  not  the  ongmators  of  this  work  rejoice  in 
experiencing  the  meaning  of  the  words:  "  He  that  hath  the  bride 
•'"degroom;  but  the  friend  of  the  bridegroom  which  stand- 
ethand  heareth  him,  rejoiceth  greatly  because  of  the  briJe- 
groom't  voice:  this  my  joy  is  therefore  fulfilled." 

Here  are  three  different  stages  to  which  the  independence 
of  a  native  Church  has  come.  The  problem  win  take  on  yet 
other  phases  in  Japan,  and  new  forms  in  every  other  land.  But 
Messed  is  the  day  when  it  arises,  even  if  cloaked  with  difficulty. 
DouMy  Uesaed  is  the  misskm  policy  which  prepares  for  it  from 
the  Ottttet  and  lays  a  way  of  peace  for  iu  comtnf . 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  IS3 


But,  it  may  be  asked,  how  is  the  way  of  peace  to  be  laid? 
I  do  not  think  that  any  one  answer  can  be  given.  The  foreign 
missions  represent  many  nationalities  and  Church  polities,  they 
are  carried  on  among  people  of  varying  resistance  and  re- 
sponsiveness and  capacity.  Individual  missionartes  are  of  widely 
differing  temperaments  and  characteristics,  and  their  modes  of 
largest  influence  are  dissimilar.  No  one  prescription  can  be 
laid  down  covering  all  situations.  How  soon  and  in  what  man- 
ner the  native  Church  is  to  be  organised,  what  measure  of  au- 
thority it  derives  from  those  who  organize  it,  and  what  measure 
it  owes  to  no  body  of  men,  what  help  it  shall  receive,  and  in 
what  form — these  are  practical  questions  which  to  many  mis- 
sionaries will  appear  more  important  than  the  reiteratim  of  a 
general  ideal  which  they  have  always  held.  But  they  are  ques- 
tions which  must  be  answered  in  the  light  of  the  varying  ele- 
ments which  enter  into  them  in  a  score  of  divergent  situations, 
and  we  shall  have  done  enough  now  if  we  have  come  to  see  more 
clearly  and  to  accept  more  unreservedly  the  ideal  of  self-gov- 
ernment for  the  Church  in  as  full  a  measure  as  possiUe 
from  the  beginning  and  in  complete  measure  as  soon  as 
possible.  Whatever  plans  we  do  adopt  will  be  determined  by 
the  heartiness  and  confidence  with  which  we  hold  to  this 
ideal. 

We  must  go  on  now  to  suggest  that  there  are  other  regards 
than  these  three  of  the  self-propagation,  self-support,  and  self- 
government  of  tiie  native  Church,  in  which  foreign  missions 
must  give  heed  to  the  ideal  which  they  set  before  the  Church 
and  the  form  and  principles  which  they  give  to  it  in  its  infancy. 
Both  the  spiritual  character  and  the  practical  methods  of  the 
native  Churches  will  be  determined  for  years  by  the  missions 
which  found  them.  The  manners  of  their  clergy,  down  to  their 
style  of  dress,  their  modes  of  worship,  their  forms  of  church 
architecture,  their  attitude  toward  their  former  religions  and 
the  customs  of  their  people,  their  standard  of  moral  and  re- 
ligious character  will  all  be  learned  from  their  missionary  teach- 
ers. In  many  mission  fields  they  have  already  been  learned, 
and  the  whole  problem  of  missions  has  become  conq>Ucat<d 


154        CHWSTIANm-  AND  THE  NATIONS 


with  things  that  must  be  laid  aside,  kssons  tati^  wttiitn  tiw 
Church  which  must  be  unlearned. 

Two  of  these  points  are  of  such  importance  as  to  demand 
special  notice.  One  is  the  matter  of  ^  standard  of  Church 
membership  and  discipline.  In  some  cases  native  Churches  have 
raised  the  standard  which  they  were  given  and  become  more 
exacting;  in  others  they  have  lowered  their  tone.  They  are 
dealing  with  their  own  responsibilities.  But  at  the  outset,  and 
for  a  long  time,  the  influence  of  the  missions  will  set  the  stand- 
ard. What  shafl  it  be,  easy-going  and  tolerant  or  high  and 
exacting?  Shall  baptism  be  the  mark  merely  of  separation  from 
the  old  heathenism  or  of  a  living  entrance  into  Christ?  On  the 
one  hand,  we  have  to  remember  that,  while  there  are  inward 
spiritual  revolutions  and  rebirths,  they  are  often  as  silent  and 
secret  in  grace  as  in  nature,  and  that  the  processes  of  Giod  ami 
the  soul  are  orderly  and  slow.  We  are  dealing  in  many  cases 
with  men  of  insight  and  spiritual  desire,  and  in  some  lands 
with  earnest  people,  but  for  the  most  part  with  massn  of  men 
with  whom  patient  methods  are  required.  Dr.  Lawrence,  ^'tcr 
his  wise  studies  on  the  ground,  thought  he  knew  of  nothing 
wiser  tiian  Bishop  Caldwell's  words: 

I  cannot  imagine  any  person  who  has  lived  and  worked 
amongst  uneducated  heathens  in  the  rural  districts  believing  than 
to  be  influenced  by  high  motives  in  anything  they  do.  They 
have  never  heard  of  such  things  as  high  motives,  and  they  can- 
not for  a  long  time  be  made  to  comprehend  what  high  motives 
mean.  An  enquiry  into  their  motives,  with  a  view  to  ascertaining 
whether  they  are  spiritual  or  not,  will  seem  to  them  like  an 
enquiry  into  thdr  acquaintance  with  Greek  or  algebra.  They 
will  learn  what  good  motives  mean,  I  trust,  in  time— and,  per- 
haps, high  motives,  too — if  they  remain  long  enough  under  Chris- 
tian teaching  and  discipline ;  but  till  thejr  discard  heathenism, 
with  its  debasing  idolatries  and  superstitions,  and  place  them- 
selves under  the  wings  of  the  Church,  there  is  not  the  slightest 
chance,  as  it  appears  to  me,  of  their  motives  becoming  better 
than  they  are.  ...  The  only  hope  for  them  lies  in  their  zi- 
mission  as  soon  as  possible  into  Christ's  school.  .  .  .  Whatcve: 
the  motive,  provided  it  is  not  sordid  or  disgraceful,  we  receive 
them.— (Lawrence,  "  Modem  Missions  in  the  East,"  p.  336.) 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  155 


We  need  to  remember  this  on  the  one  hand.  On  the  other, 
we  need  to  recollect  that  it  was  the  austerity  of  its  moral  re- 
quirements and  the  reality  of  its  spiritual  energy  which  gave 
the  early  Church  its  victory.  If  the  native  Churches  are  to 
subdue  their  world  as  the  early  Church  subdued  its  world,  it 
can  only  be  by  virtue  of  their  indisputable  and  commanding 
moral  superiority,  sustained  and  invigorated  by  an  inner  life. 
In  India,  for  example,  Sir  William  Hunter  would  have  the 
Christian  Church  as  clean  of  the  drink  habit  at  least  as  Islam. 
"  I  for  one,"  said  he  in  an  address  at  the  Society  of  Arts  in 
London,  "  believe  that  if  Christianity  is  to  be  an  unmixed  bless- 
ing in  India,  it  must  be  Christianity  on  the  basis  of  total  ab- 
stinence." "  We  cannot  help  thinking,"  says  the  leading  paper 
of  North  India,  notoriously  unfriendly  to  the  missionary,  but 
giving  him  good  counsel,  "  that  the  du^  of  the  foreign  mission- 
aries who  have  been  the  means  of  introducing  Christianity  into 
India,  and  who  are  still  its  recognised  leaders,  is  to  give  the 
highest  and  best  presentirfion  of  religi(m,  and  not  to  yield  to 
any  passing  temptation  to  lower  the  standard  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice."—(7Ae  Pioneer,  Editorial,  "Missions  Up-to-date,"  April 
23.  1908.) 

Otoe  of  our  American  missionary  societies  made  an  attempt 
some  years  ago  to  state  the  sound  principle  on  the  subject  of 
the  standard  of  admission  and  of  discipline  in  these  terms : 

Recognising  that  Christian  character  is  a  growth,  and  that 
the  facts  of  Scripture  and  of  life  teach  that  patience  and  educa- 
tion are  necessary  to  the  development  of  high  moral  standards 
and  the  realisation  '  f  t  iese  standards  in  conduct,  it  is  beiieved 
that  it  is  unprofitable  .0  expect  the  fruits  of  eighteen  centuries 
of  Christian  culture  to  be  reproduced  in  a  generation  on  the 
mission  field,  and  unjust  to  demand  them  as  conditions  of  ad- 
mission to  the  Church.  At  the  same  time,  the  vital  i—portance 
of  establishing  from  the  outset  right  ideals  in  the  native  Churches 
must  be  recognised,  and  the  weight  of  judgment  should  be  given 
in  supjKirt  oi  those  missionarie!?  who  contend  for  a  relatively 
high  standard  of  admission  and  discipline  as  essential  to  the 
strength  and  purity  of  the  native  Church.  It  is  not  regarded  as 
penmssiUe,  tor  exan^e,  that  pdygatnists  should  be  admitted 


156 


QOISTIANITY  ANl>  THE  NATIONS 


to  ttie  Lord's  Supper,  or  the  esUblishment  of  distincti  ns  be- 
tween inptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  render  the  former 
oidy  anintroductory  asd  mconchiiBve  ordinance,  open  to  those 
who  are  nu  .eh-  catechumens.  Thorough  instruction  of  enquirers 
before  bai  Isn".  and  the  inculcation  of  high  mora!  oW'gati«is, 
should  b-  jjrov.ijed  for.  On  the  other  hanu,  regard  •^J  '  be 
had  to  the  antecedents  and  environment  of  the  peoj  c  and 
emphasis;  should  be  laid  not  l  much  1900  ectended  knox  ledge 
or  even  corinriii  ty  to  set  lequirements,  a>  upon  earnestness, 
genuine  taith.  and  that  mcne  acceptance  Christ  which  wffl 
issue  in  trw  Uvii^ 

There  are  some  «^  tike  excepHon  to  Urn  ^ny»ddiiig  judg- 
ment regarding  the  exclusion  ct  polygai  >  otr;  the  nativ< 
Church,  holding  that,  while  polygamy  is  01  o  rse  wrong,  w* 
have  no  right  10  exchide  a  p^>lygamist  who  is  truly  convcrt'jtj 
bat  who  contracted  his  polygamou  relations  in  the  days  oi 
his  ignorance.  V.  ;tl.  regard  to  thi  viev  helJ  by  many  greai 
missionaries,  we  suggest:  (i;  ~hat  that  which  woi  Id  oe  itiadc 
the  ground  of  mwiiiiiii  if  in  the  Oiurch,  should  awistitute  ; 
barrier  to  adnttssioo  to  he  Church;  (2  that  it  is  not  Churd 
membership  or  any  Christian  requirement  which  makes  polyg 
amy  wrong,  but  a  law  ot  uitu»^.  ind  that  ignorance  or  mer 
oomi^iance  with  usage  offered  as  an  excuse  for  the  on  »ctioi 
of  polygamy  cannot  warrant  its  admission  to  the  C  urch 
(3)  that  the  only  way  xo  keep  polygamy  out  of  tn  H  rci  vh-r 
it  is  acknowledged  ttart  it  oof^t  not  to  be  is  to  ade  or  r« 
those  guilty  of  it;  (4)  that  tlie  requirement  p  'v  mii 

should  live  in  marital  relation  with  only  one  wi  is  r< 
quirement  that  he  should  cease  to  support  the  ters;  th 
other  hand,  he  should  be  requi  ed  to  do  so;  (5)  that  th^re  i 
no  Scriptural  or  rational  groi  nd  for  admitting  a  man  to  -h 
Church  and  then  excluding  bun  from  office,  *i  some  propo 
on  the  ground  of  Ws  msrilal  lUlioB;  (6)  that  le  aUegatio 
dut  such  a  course  is  recogni  -ed  in  the  Epistle  Timothy  i 
I  Tim.  iii:2,  which  specifies  at  a  b»  hop  must  be  the  husban 
of  one  wife,  thereby  implying  max  mtn  were  ordinal  /  men 
bcrs  who  bad  more  than  one  wife,  am  onlv  be  iefend'-d  t 
acknowdMl^  that  the  snatenwHt       aiding  ^  tdt         '  Itti 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  157 


v:9.  10,  name!  •,  that  \rh  -hould  have  been  the  wife  of  one 
husband,  proves  tV  .1  ere  was  polyandry  also  in  the  early 
Clrarch;  (7)  tim  Uw  purity  of  llie  fMme  is  an  essential  not 
to  be  imperilled  by  any  concession  or  in  any  way  whatsoever; 
(8)  ;iat  to  admit  pf  tygrmy  into  the  Church  defiles  the  ideal 
f  the  Church  as  des  ribe*  by  Paul  in  the  noble  passage  in  the 

and  ^      at  the  foundation  of  Chris- 
1  rtvelation;  (9)  that  it  weakens 
*'  to  nr  hteousness ;  (10)  th;'t  polyg- 
to  c  ^ue  marital  relation>  which 
>so      X  the  foundation  of  purity; 
c  cas'    0  say  that  there  will 
onai  mstait^cs  of  s    h  baptisms.    It  is  a 
of  many,  but  of  essential  moral  princifdes. 


fifth  chapter  n'  Ephesians 

tin  t       ':;     j   he  Chr 
the  teistimony  of  hrisir 
amous  wives  hav  iw  n^* 
can  be  d  -fended  vvit*  nr 
and  'II      lilt  i*^  d' 
be   )U   a     w  e. 
qaestioo  nc^  of  few 


:  strati 


Th 

.ioral    .<j  't 
which  jMtoiuc^ 
fore>a|B  nris)^ 
<^'-"-'r:-!nable  sr- 
a     icestoi  w 
ari. and 
in  their 
idolatrot 
upon  a 
k.  a  great 
m*  e  may 
»  hip. 


.  t.  .  problem  of  the  standard  of  'Christian 
y  the  missions  suggests  the  other  point  to 
to  be  drawn,  namely,  the  attitude  whidi 
should  set  before  the  native  Churc)w<i  i^oward 
il  conditions  involving  religious  princ   »s,  such 
nip  in  China  and  caste  in  India.   Tb  <^si(»i- 
Churdm  in  China  are  practically  u^  a¥>^as 
nt  ^lat  ancestor  worship  contains  inadi  ile 
ents,  and  they  have  agreed  with  small  dissc.  m 
m  attitude  towvd  it  Over  caste,  however,  there 
nflict  of  view.   It  is  evident  that  it  is  to  be  a  far 
v'c  barrier  in  the  way  of  Christianity  than  ancestor 
SotM  Chinese  seem  only  too  likely  to  abandon  what 
wa   reafly  good  in  ancestor  worship  with  its  foolish  idolatrous 
!eme       u'Viile  others  are  perceiviu;,  that  the  Christian  spirit 
of  -  for  the  dead  includes  all  that  was  worthy  in  their 

tradR>  i\  idea.  But  in  spite  of  all  that  has  been  done  to  dis- 
solve ttic  exrlusiveness  of  caste  in  India,  it  remains  still  the 
most  deep-seated  institution  in  the  land,  so  deep-seated  and 
irrefragable  that  many  urge  the  abandonment  of  the  attitude 
of  absfdute  hostility  to  it  taken  up  by  tiie  foreign  tnissicHi  move- 
ment, or  the  transfer  of  our  missionary  energies  from  the  assault 
on  the  caste-intrenched  pet^le  to  the  unhindered  evangelisation 


158 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


of  the  low-caste  and  outcaste  peoples.  The  Bishop  of  Madras 
has  stirred  up  a  still  lively  controversy  (See  The  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Review,  Bopatla,  India,  December,  1907)  by  arguing  that 
our  work  for  the  high-caste  people,  especially  through  our  col- 
leges, has  been  practically  fruitless,  virhile  low-caste  evangelisation 
has  met  with  immense  success,  and  that  this  is  evidence  not  only 
of  the  direction  which  the  providence  of  God  would  have  our  mis- 
sionary activities  take,  but  also  of  the  quickest  method  of  reach- 
ing the  high-caste  people  themselves,  who  see  already  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  classes  they  had  despised  through  the  uplift- 
ing influence  of  Christianity,  and  who  will  be  forced  to  ccmsitkr 
the  claims  of  a  religion  whose  power  they  behold  and  through 
which  alone  they  can  hope  to  escape  being  outdistanced.  Many 
have  come  forward  to  argue  against  Bishop  Whitehead's  propo- 
sitions, and  the  result  of  his  declarations  will  be  sure  to  be 
more  work  and  better  work  for  both  high-caste  and  outcaste 
peoples.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Bernard  Lucas  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  in  "  The  Empire  of  Christ,"  has  argued  for 
a  different  attitude  toward  the  caste  spirit.  It  is  not  entirely 
clear  to  us  just  what  Mr.  Lucas  would  have  us  do.  With  his 
principle,  "  There  should  be  no  baptism  outside  of  the  Chur^, 
there  shotdd  be  no  caste  within  the  Church,"  we  heartily  agree, 
but  this  seems,  in  his  view,  to  involve  keeping  all  high-caste  con- 
verts out  of  the  Church  and  meanwhile  ms^ng  no  vigorous  effort 
to  dissolve  their  caste  narrowness,  but  waiting  tmtil  Hindu 
society  is  prepared  to  come  over  bodily  into  Christianity.  It 
is  not  souls  out  of  the  ship  of  India,  to  quote  again  his  figure, 
whom  we  are  to  bring  in,  but  the  whole  ship.  How  are  we 
to  do  it?  Meanwhile,  is  the  Church  to  be  made  up  of  low-castet 
and  of  those  from  the  high-castes  who  have  naturally  of  them- 
selves given  up  their  caste  separation  and  come  into  that  body 
where  there  is  neitiier  low-caste  nor  high<aste,  but  where  all 
are  one  in  the  unity  of  their  Saviour  ?  It  is  clear,  however,  that 
Mr.  Luc^  would  not  have  caste  in  the  Church.  He  would  have 
foreign  missions  set  that  attitude  for  the  native  organisation. 
In  that  view  he  would  disagree  with  an  Indian  writer,  Lall 
Bihuy  Daw  in  Th0  Epipktmy,  the  or|aa  ol  the  OkM  Miwion 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  159 


in  Calcutta  (January  16,  1909),  who  holds  that  caste  should  be 
taken  into  the  Church  and  dissolved  in  time  within,  as  was  the 
case  with  slavery.  "  In  a  caste-ridden  country  like  India,"  sayt 
Mr.  Dass,  "  where  caste  is  all  in  all,  you  cannot  root  out  in  one 
day  what  the  ages  have  done,  so  it  will  augur  well  if  this 
theoretical  system  be  kept  up  and  at  the  same  time  tiiey  be 
made  Christians,  and  if  caste  itself  is  an  evil,  it  will  gradually 
mel;  ?way  like  snow  before  the  noonday  sun,  when  the  true 
light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  will  commence  to  shine  forth 
in  their  hearts."  The  foreign  mission  enterprise  in  setting  stand- 
ards for  the  Churches  which  it  creates,  cannot  accept  this  view 
any  more  than  it  could  provide  for  the  admission  of  polygamy 
and  shivery,  of  concubinage  and  idolatry,  in  tiie  hope  tiiat  diese 
would  in  time  disappear.  Christianity  means  something  moral 
and  social.  It  !s  a  religion  which  embodies  ideals,  and  the 
Church  is  the  institution  which  expresses  those  ideals. 

At  the  same  time,  there  are  discriminations  to  be  made  in  the 
case  of  what  is  called  caste,  just  as  in  the  case  of  ancestor  wor- 
ship, which  embodied  one  of  the  noblest  of  human  sentiments. 
The  fomwr  Bishop  of  Bombay,  Dr.  Mylne,  has  suggested  tittie; 
"  When  I  maintain  that  caste  must  go,  that  to  make  temu  witii 
it  is  to  break  once  for  all  with  the  practical  Gospel  of  Christ, 
I  am  not  to  be  taken  for  a  moment  as  intending  that  the  edu- 
cated Brahman,  with  his  social  refinement,  is  to  be  treated  as 
a  traitor  to  Christianity,  if  he  determines  to  marry  his  children 
to  no  one  whose  social  position  would  render  their  happiness 
impossiUe."  And  in  kti  review  of  Dr.  Mylm's  "Mitsioat  to 
Hindus,"  Mr.  Lucas  has  pointtd  out  dwt  more  radi  tiacrimiaa^ 
tions  must  be  drawn: 

Between  die  caste  spirit  and  the  pirit  of  Christ  there  is  an 

irreconcilable  opposition,  whether  that  caste  spirit  is  manifested 
in  the  caste  system  of  India  or  in  the  social  distinctions  of  the 
West.  But  just  as  there  are  social  distinctions  in  the  West, 
which  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  caste  spirit,  so  there  are  social 
distinctioat  and  social  habits  in  India  which,  thotigh  connectid 
with  the  caste  system,  are  not  bound  up  with  the  caste  spirit 
While  it  is  quite  true  that  caste  is  religious  as  well  as  sodd^ 


i6o        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  India  of  to-day  is  by  no 
means  the  India  of  a  hundred  years  ago.  In  no  respect  has  India 
changed  more  during  the  past  century  than  in  the  position  which 
caste  occupies  in  the  thought  of  the  Hindu  of  to-day,  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  his  forebears  of  a  century  ago.  There  has 
been  a  divorce  going  on  between  caste  and  religion,  which  the 
missionary  of  the  twentieth  century  will  do  well  to  recognise. 
Amongst  the  educated  Hindus  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that 
the  religious  aspect  of  caste  ha^  largely  ceased  to  be  qwrative. 
While  the  same  cannot  be  said  rf  those  uninfluenced  by  English 
education,  yet  in  many  parts  of  India  the  bond  between  religion 
and  caste  has  been  very  greatly  loosened,  and  while  casve  is 
still  jealously  guarded,  it  is  far  more  as  a  social  than  as  a  re- 
ligious system.  These  changes  make  it  imperative  for  us  to 
change  our  attitude  towards  the  question  of  caste,  and  disdnguish 
between  the  real  caste  spirit  with  which  we  can  make  no  terms 
and  the  social  habits  and  customs  which  are  merely  a  stage  in 
social  development.  Already  there  are  signs  that  the  time  is 
coming  when  the  acceptance  of  Christianity  will  not  involve  tlMit 
breach  with  the  past  wbidi  hitherto  has  been  inevitable. 

With  such  a  problem  a  truly  independent  national  Church 
would  be  far  more  competent  to  deal  than  a  foreign  mission,  and 
it  is  a  pity  that  there  is  not  such  a  Church  in  India  to  settle 
it  for  itself,  but  what  India' lacks  we  still  lack  ourselves,  both 
in  America  and  Great  Britain,  and  in  all  tfie  lands  fnxn  whidi 
the  missionaries  go  forth. 

This  question  of  caste,  however,  is  only  part  of  a  larger 
proUem,  namdy,  the  establishment  of  the  foundations  of  the 
new  Churches  solidly  and  broadly  on  the  life  of  the  people.  Mis- 
sionaries begin  where  they  can,  knowing  that  all  souls  are 
Christ's.  Sometimes  they  reach  first  the  ignorant  and  poor; 
and  the  work  of  the  new  Church  is  taken  up  by  those  who  are 
not  the  natural  leaders  of  life.  Often  out  of  these  classes  the 
real  national  leaders  come,  and  God  demonstrates  again  His 
power  to  use  the  weak  to  confound  the  mighty.  But  often  the 
native  Church,  built  thus  on  one  class,  never  works  out  from 
it  but  remains  a  small  and  unrepresentative  society,  separated 
from  the  life  it  is  meant  to  mould.  Such  are  still  the  churches 
built  on  the  cAd  ntgro  conununities  in  Bahia  and  Pemamboco 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  s6i 


in  Brazil.  On  the  other  hand,  the  foundation  of  a  new  CSnirch 
may  be  laid  in  a  higher  class,  with  results  not  less  marked.  As 
a  keen  observer  of  mission  work  writes  from  Japan:  "If  you 
look  for  the  source  of  the  financial  weakness  and  the  unsatisfac- 
tory history  of  the  Church  in  Japan  in  regard  to  rdatiims  with 
the  missionary  body,  you  will  find  that  one  fact  explains  both. 
It  has  been  the  poor  but  proud  Samurai  who  have  filled  the 
churches  and  the  ministry.  They  have  been  to  us  a  streng^ 
and  a  weakness,  our  pride  and  our  torment.  The  Heimin,  or 
plebeian  poplation,  have  been  too  ignorant  and  superstitious, 
too  much  under  the  domination  of  their  Buddhist  priests  and 
their  Shinto  sdmdmasters,  to  open  tiie  ear  to  the  Word.  Bat 
we  are  at  last  getting  at  the  Heimin,  and  there  are  better  days 
ahead.  We  shall  never  have  substantial,  steady  churches  till 
they  are  made  up  less  of  Samurai  officials,  army  and  navy  mm, 
teadiers,  and  students,  and  more  of  plain  farmers,  business  men, 
and  workmen."  The  broader  the  foundation  of  the  new 
Churches,  the  more  representative  their  membership,  the  more 
trJy  will  tiwy  embody  the  i^  seen  in  the  dmrchet  wbiA 
St.  Paul  founded,  which  did  indeed  rest  upon  the  common  life 
of  men,  but  also  knew  no  maccessible  class  and  claimed  ail 
society  as  the  sphere  and  instrument  of  the  Church's  mission. 

There  are  doubtless  some,  however,  to  whom  the  breadth  of 
the  foundation  of  the  native  Churches  will  seem  of  less  im- 
portance than  its  depth,  who  will  be  less  concerned  that  these 
foundations  should  be  laid  oat  wkkty  upon  life  than  tlMt  whcr> 
ever  they  are  laid  they  should  be  laid  with  predtioo  and  exact- 
ness. They  are  so  firmly  convinced,  in  other  words,  of  the 
universal  warrant  and  validity  of  some  of  these  convictions  which 
itiey  themselves  hold,  that  ^  cannot  believe  that  any  founda- 
tions are  rightly  laid  that  are  not  laid  in  these  convictions.  Now, 
al!  ( i  .3  belong  to  this  class  in  things  that  really  are  universal 
fa:  '  ^  itiaidty.  That  is  why  the  foreign  mis^  niu»tuwiil 
exit.  To  lead  men  to  the  living  and  true  God  by  the  way  of 
His  only  Son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  Who  is  the  Way,  the 
Truth,  and  the  Life,  and  by  Whom  aloM  nen  cm  ted  ^ 
Ftthti^^lat  it  tiw  sole  wf/tk^  Md  powtr  of  tht  mlMioBaiy 


l62 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


enterprise.   In  the  faith  and  love  oi  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  and  the  Saviour  of  tlie  World,  we  find  all  our 
own  life,  and  deep  tiierein  we  bdieve  it  to  be  indispensable 
above  all  thin£;s  else  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  new  Churches. 
But  we  are  not  of  those  who  believe,  as  some  do,  that  any 
particular  ecclesiastical  polity  or  historic  statement  of  Christian 
doctrine  should  be  laid  down  bodily  upon  the  native  Churches. 
In  an  older  day,  a  notable  letter  of  counsel  to  its  foreign  mis- 
sionaries from  one  of  our  great  Churches  contained  the  admoni- 
tion :  "  Be  careful  to  mmntain  in  all  your  missions  the  worship 
and  order,  as  well  as  the  doctrine  of  your  own  Church.  We  have 
no  desire  either  to  cherish  ourselves  or  to  recommend  to  you 
a  sectarian  spirit.    But  we  cannot  think  that  a  warm  attadi- 
ment  to  our  own  beloved  Church,  and  a  decided  preference 
of  its  rites  and  polity,  deserve  to  be  so  styled.   As  long  as  we 
believe  them  to  be  founded  on  the  Word  of  God,  we  must  con- 
sider an  adherence  to  tfiem  as  our  incumbent  duty.   And  as 
you  are  the  representatives  among  the  heathen  of  the  Church 
of  your  choice,  we  trust  you  will  faithfully  maintain  all  its  claims 
and  usages."   And  within  the  last  two  years  an  earnest  mis- 
nonary  bishop  in  another  great  Christian  Oiurdi  dedared:  "  The 
one  grand  object,  of  course,  which  every  evangelist  must  pur- 
sue, is  the  development  of  an  indigenous  Church,  which  !ihall 
work  upon  lines  of  its  own,  taking  notiiing  from  European 
Christianity  but  the  Bible,  the  Creeds,  the  Sacraments,  and  the 
historic  Orders  of  the  Ministry." — (Mylne,  "  Missions  to  Hin- 
dus," p.  130.)    I  do  not  wonder  that  an  equally  earnest  mis- 
sionary has  been  stirred  to  reply :  "  One  may  ask,  with  some 
amount  of  wondvf,  what  there  would  be  left  to  take  from  Euro- 
pean Christianity  after  you  have  taken  the  Creeds,  which  repre- 
sent its  theology ;  the  Sacraments,  which  stand  for  its  conceptkm 
of  ritual,  and  the  Orders  of  the  Ministry,  which,  presumably, 
represent  its  ecclesiastical  organisation?   If  all  these  are  to  be 
imposed  bodily  upon  the  Indian  Church,  one  wonders  upon  what 
'  lines  of  its  own  '  the  indigenous  Church  is  going  to  work.  The 
author  seems  to  join  us  in  this  wonder,  for  he  immediately  adds: 
'The  goal  may  lie  centuries  in  front  of  us.   At  present  it  is 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  163 

not  in  sight,  even  dimly  descried  on  the  horizon.'   As  long  as 
Christianity  is  identified,  as  our  author  seems  to  identify  it,  wi* 
Western  thedogy,  Western  ritual,  and  Western  ecclesiasticism, 
so  long  will  the  Christianisation  of  India  be  delayed,  and  the 
Indian  Church  remain  an  exotic,  instead  of  becoming  indigenous. 
We  hare  so  guarded  against  producing  an  Indian  Christian  here- 
tic, that  we  have  equally  failed  to  produce  a  theologian." — (Ber- 
nard Lucas  in  the  Chrc  :kle  of  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
July,  1908,  p.  130.)   Our  Western  ecclesiastical  polities  are  not 
universal  or  final.  Each  of  tfwm  grounds  itself  upon  Scripture, 
but  they  are  mutually  contradictory.   Our  Western  theological 
statements  arc  not  universal  or  final.  How  can  they  be?  They 
were  not  divinely  inspired.   They  are  the  products  of  only  a 
fmall  part  of  nnnkif^  the  outgrowth  of  a  small  fraction  of 
the  experience  of  humanity,  a  mere  fragment  of  the  still  in- 
completed education  of  mankind  by  God.   The  men  who  go 
out  as  foreign  misdonaries  can  go,  of  courte,  only  as  the  men 
they  are,  believing  what  they  believe,  and  if  they  believe  that  the 
presiding  eldership  or  supralapsarianism  or  immersion  or  bap- 
tismal regeneration  is  fundamental  and  umversal,  Aey  will  teach 
it,  and  we  shall  have  to  work  out  from  the  consequences  as  best 
we  can.   But  we  believe  nothing  of  the  sort,  nor  that  episco- 
pate or  presbytery,  nor  Calvinism  or  Arminianism,  nor  anything 
else  of  polity  or  of  creed,  but  taxa^y  Aat  Ae  fact  Oat  Jesut 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  c«ne  the  Saviour  of  the  whole  worid, 
is  the  fundamental  and  universal  thing,  the  rock  on  which  to 
build  the  new  Churches  of  the  nations.  We  must  doubtless  help 
and  guide  these  Churches,  and  those  who  do  it  will  do  it  in  the 
way  in  which  alone  they  conscientiously  can,  but  a  true  foreign 
misskm  policy  will  make  room  for  a  free  life  in  the  native 
Churches,  and  will  rejoice  in  their  adaptation  of  means  to  meet 
their  own  needs  in  organisation  and  in  their  guidance  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  into  new  constructions  and  fresh  emphasis  of  the 
enduring  truth  of  God,  too  rich  and  infinite  to  have  been  codified 
by  any  one  man,  or  one  race,  or  one  age.  Surely  we  can  say  this 
with  no  want  of  love  or  loyalty  to  the  Church  in  which  we  grew 
up  and  throi«h  which  w«  do  our  work.  We  art  not  lest  true 


i64        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


to  her  and  her  vision  of  truth  when  we  declare  these  to  be  but 
a  part  of  a  nobler  whole,  and  when  we  watch  and  wait  with  long- 
ing desire  for  the  completion  of  the  whole  body,  absorbing  ours 
in  its  fulness,  and  the  gathering  of  the  fuller  light,  eclipsing 
ours  in  its  brightness. 

At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  said  that  as  yet  the  native 
Churches,  even  the  strongest  and  most  independent,  have  pro- 
duced nothing  notable  either  in  the  way  of  Church  organisatim 
oi-  in  the  way  of  perception  or  statement  of  truth.  Dr.  Datta 
has  told  us  the  reason,  in  the  case  of  India : 

The  Indian  Church  has  failed  on  the  whole  to  produce  a 
distinctive  theol^|y  capable  of  reaching  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  the  people,  'nie  religious  histoiy  of  India  would  lead  us  to 
look  for  something  of  ^is  kind.  Yet  the  nearest  approach  to 
a  distinctively  Indian  interpretation  of  Cb  '  -  has  come  from 
a  non-Christian  sect,  the  Brahmo  Samaj.  Ine  cause  is  not  far 
to  seek.  Indian  Christianity  is  as  vet  a  Western  product  in  the 
process  of  being  grafted  on  to  Inma.  The  diildren  of  converts 
know  little  of,  and  care  less  for,  the  whole  heritage  of  Indian 
thouj^t  and  religion.  They  are  brought  up  with  a  stock  of 
Christian  ideas  in  a  society  of  their  own.  The  conversion  of 
their  parents  has  severed  all  the  old  relationships.  Another 
consideration  which  throws  light  on  this  barrenness  of  tiie  Indian 
Christian  religious  mind  is  the  fact  that  up  to  the  present  the 
members  of  the  Church  have  been  drawn  from  castes  which  do 
not  afford  a  soil  in  which  theological  ideas  naturally  spring  up 
and  come  to  harvest  There  have  been  Christians  like  K.  M. 
Banerji  and  Nehemiah  Goreh,  but  the  converts  from  tfie  castes 
which  show  special  philosophical  aptitudes  are  few  and  insuffi- 
cient to  form  an  intellectual  society  in  which  there  can  be  a 
free  interchange  of  ideas.  New  interpretations  of  Christian  doC' 
trine  will  scarcely  be  possible  till  the  intellectual  level  of  the 
Indian  Church  is  raisM  either  b^  greater  accessions  from  tiie 
Brahman  class,  or  by  an  extraordinary  development  of  the  mind 
of  the  outcaste  people  who  form  the  bulk  of  the  Christian 
cotnmmiity.'— ( Datta,  "  The  Desire  of  India,"  p.  355.) 

The  foundations  of  the  native  Church  are  neither  stifficiently 
dt^  nor  siiflkiently  teoad.  But  even  if  thqr  wwt,  u  tiMjr  trt 
POOOiniBg  «  juptUf  wc  miiK  ocwwe  ot  cnininMy  100  (fits  fs^ 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  165 


pectations.  Some  have  been  bold  to  hope  for  far  more  than 
there  is  any  prospect  of  receiving.  Truth  grows  out  of  life. 
It  is  tiie  character  of  God  onftMi^^  ttsdf  to  men  and  races 
as  they  live  up  into  God.  It  is  not  a  thing  which  men  < 
Churches  can  find  by  saying:  "  Go  to,  now,  watch  me  discove 
new  truth."  The  pride  of  nationalism,  which  is  the  near  peril 
of  independent  native  Churches,  is  a  sure  prevention  of  great 
spiritual  discovery.  But  in  all  our  relations  to  the  new  Churches 
we  should  be  zealous  to  guard  their  liberty  and  should  not  post- 
pone the  day  of  tfieir  own  independent  gukbnce  by  tiie  <fivme 
Spirit  by  loading  them  with  the  synsbds,  whether  of  worship 
or  of  organisation  or  of  doctrine,  whidi  have  grown  up  in  our 
long  racial  development  in  the  West 

On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  justly  argued,  and  the  truth 
must  be  taken  up  into  our  views,  that  the  new  Churches  are 
entitled  to  start  where  we  have  come  and  not  where  we  began, 
that  diere  is  no  reason  why  tiiey  shoidd  go  back  to  tfie  firrt 
century  to  repeat  for  themselves  the  long  history  which  has 
produced  us.  The  truth  here  is  the  obvious  truth  that  we  should 
do  our  best  and  act  with  all  the  wisdom  which  tins  history  has 
taught  us  in  dealing  with  them.  The  error  lies  in  forgetting 
that  much  of  this  history  has  been  bitter  and  destructive,  and 
that  we  are  only  now  returning  to  those  fundamental  principles 
of  the  Lord  and  His  Apostles,  from  which  the  centuries  hvrt 
led  us  so  far  away. 

Two  further  aspects  of  the  problem  of  the  relation  of  mis- 
sions to  the  native  Churches  are  brought  before  us  in  the  words 
quoted  a  moment  ago  from  Dr.  Datta.  He  is  speaking  of  India. 
It  is  in  India  that  the  difficulty  of  the  work  of  raising  up  a  truly 
independent  Church  seems  to  be  greatest  It  is  the  oldest  field, 
and  there  are  more  native  Christians  there  tiian  in  any  other 
mission  land,  but  tiie  Church  is  still  a  foreign  organisation  on 
Indian  soil.  There  are  self-supporting  congregations.  There  are 
able  Indian  ministers.  There  is  now  a  new  and  hopeftd  Natkmal 
MisdoMry  Soekty,  but  even  this  was  a  fenlga  Mea  rad  largely 
inspired  and  initiated  by  foreign  energy.  There  seems  to  be 
waattaf  the  spirit  of  a  brave  and  sacrificial  nationalism,  such  as 


i66        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


led  Paul  Sawayama  to  starve  himself  in  the  Naniwa  church  in 
Osaka  and  is  already  moving  in  what  is  to  be  the  mighty  Chris- 
tian Church  in  China.  This  may  be  due  in  part  to  the  chiU  of 
caste,  in  part  to  the  placidity  of  the  national  character.  Partly, 
I  think,  it  is  due,  and  the  fact  shows  how  varying  are  the 
conditions  in  which  the  missionary  problem  must  be  wrought 
out,  to  the  effect  of  the  political  situation.   The  goal  of  Indbn 
ambition  has  been  service  under  a  foreign  Government  ruling 
the  political  life  of  India.    The  analogy  of  service  under  a 
foreign  Church  ruling  the  religious  Ufe  of  India  has  been  too 
natural  to  resist,  or  even  to  be  conscious  of  its  needii«  resistance. 
The  comfitioiu  have  been  precisely  the  reverse  of  those  in  Japan. 
The  problems  of  missionary  policy  are  entwined  with  the  deepest 
issues  of  national  life  and  are  rendered  vastly  nwre  difficult 
tiieret^.  If  a  native  Church  lead*  in  a  nationalistic  movement, 
it  is  exposed  to  the  peril  of  political  confusion  and  entanglement, 
the  danger  of  disloyalty  in  India,  of  chauvinism  in  Japan.^  If 
it  does  not  lead,  it  is  distrusted  for  unpatriotinn  and  (fiscredted 
as  the  motive  power  of  national  life.  The  American  Churches 
confronted  in  the  days  of  the  Revolutionary  War  a  situ^OT 
reproduced  in  its  essential  principles  to-day  in  many  Asiatic 

lands.  , . 

Dr.  Datta's  words  suggest  not  only  the  dive  sity  of  conditions 
on  the  mission  fields,  but  also  the  problem  of  the  relation  of 
missions  to  the  education  of  the  second  generation  of  Ae  native 
Chutth.  It  is  from  that  generation  that  the  capable  and  effective 
leaders  come.  It  is  there,  also,  that  the  most  bitter  disappoint- 
ments are  met.  In  many  mission  schools  it  is  this  class  wWA 
presents  the  chief  difficulty,  more  than  boys  from  the  homes 
of  the  old  religions.  In  many  stations  it  is  they  wiio  paralyse 
the  Church  and  nullify  the  apol<^tic  value  of  its  Ufe  and 
example.  Of  such  a  generation  the  Report  of  the  Basle  Ifitsioa 
in  Western  India,  for  the  year  1890,  speaks:  "  Most  of  these 
[Christians!  have  not  tasted  the  thralldom  of  idolatry  and  the 
enmity  of  the  world,  but  have  enjoyed  all  the  privileges  con- 
ferred upon  them  through  tiie  medium  of  Church  and  scfaocl 
They  fed  their  preicnt  elevated  position;  their  energies,  however. 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  167 


have  not  as  yet  found  their  proper  channels.  Many,  especially 
of  those  who  till  now  have  not  experienced  what  a  new  bir^ 
is,  in  their  desire  to  improve  their  circumstances  are  impatient 
that  things  develop  so  dowly  and  not  in  the  very  way  they 
wish,  and  are  often  apt  to  suspect  the  very  missionaries  to 
whose  instrumentality  most  of  them  owe  their  prosperity,  and 
who  kave  untried  no  means  or  way  to  push  them  on,  as  if  H 
were  they  who  were  keeping  them  down  and  hindering  their 
progress." — (Quoted  by  Cust,  "  Missionary  Methods,"  p.  23.) 
The  report  is  speaking  of  native  Christians  maintained  by  mis- 
sionary industrial  institutions.  The  risk  of  fostering  the  tpirit 
of  complaining  dependence  in  such  work  is  its  great  dai^fer. 
But  the  second  generation  is  always  a  peril  because  it  is  also 
a  hope.  What  may  be  so  modi  better  may  be  also  so  modi 
worse.  If,  in  the  new  Christian  homes  the  Christian  atmosphere 
has  not  really  permeated  all  the  life  now  emptied  of  its  old 
sanctions  and  motives,  if  the  boy  grows  up  with  no  God,  either 
false  or  true,  reaUy  sobering  his  life  and  holding  it  hi  awe, 
if  he  learns  contempt  for  superstition  without  having  come  to 
faith,  his  latter  state  is  worse  than  his  father's  first  The  mis- 
sion, in  seeking  to  produce  a  true  and  abidiiig  Churdi,  will 
remember  that  the  second  generation  is  as  important  as  the 
first.  That  is  one  reason  why  missions  are  not  content  to  see 
a  number  of  people  converted  and  then  pass  on.  That  is  the 
end  of  only  tfw  firrt  stage  of  timr  wotk.  There  is  now  a 
second  stage,  and  beyond  that  there  is  a  third. 

In  the  education  of  the  second  generation  one  of  the  most 
foolish,  and  yet  one  of  tiie  most  natural  things  to  (k>,  b  to 
bring  choice  young  men  to  the  Western  countries  for  their  train- 
ing. That  is,  it  is  natural  when  the  aim  of  the  enterprise  is 
forgotten  and  the  laws  of  human  nature  and  leadership  are 
unknown.  It  seemed  at  tfie  first  to  many  friends  of  veMom 
that  the  best  thing  that  could  be  done  would  be  to  establish 
training  schools  for  natives  in  the  home  lands.  They  tried  it 
One  of  tiie  despairs  of  missiMary  organist^  now  is  tiiai  they 
cannot  persuade  well-meaning  individuals  to  accept  the  results 
of  the  bitter  aqteriencc  of  a  hundred  years.  The  Moravians 


i68        CHRISTIANiry  AND  THE  NATIONS 


were  amoog  tiie  first  to  come  to  wisdom  in  Ae  matter.  "  We 

disapprove  of  bringing  converts  to  Europe  on  any  pretext  what- 
ever," they  say  in  their  instructions,  "  and  think  it  would  lead 
them  into  danger  of  injury  to  their  own  souls."  Hundreds, 
probably  thousands  of  young  men  and  women  have  been  harmed 
and  spoiled  for  all  useful  service  in  this  way.  Instead  of 
being  prepared  for  true  work  as  members  and  leaders  of  their 
own  people,  they  have  gone  btck  separated  from  them,  with 
unnatural  tastes  and  ambitions,  representing,  or  desiring  to  repre- 
sent something  foreign,  obstructing,  and  in  some  fields,  practi- 
cally destroying  the  hope  of  establishing  a  free  and  Kvii^ 
Church.  There  have  been  exceptions,  many  especially  among 
the  Chinese  and  Japanese  who  have  studied  abroad,  but  the 
sending  forth  of  such  men  should  be  by  the  missions  or  Churches 
on  tiw  foreign  field.  When  fliey  come  otherwise,  tiie  greatest 
kindness  that  can  be  shown  is  to  let  them  save  their  character 
by  complete  self-support  The  man  who  can  do  this  may  go 
back  to  be  a  true  power  among  his  people,  and  by  tbs  chancier 
wliich  he  has  achieved  for  himself  he^  his  race  to  a  full  reafisa- 
tion  of  its  character. 

I  said  that  after  the  second  stage  of  relatioas  between  mis- 
sions and  native  Churches,  the  long  stage  between  the  first 
organisation  of  the  Church  and  its  achievement  of  a  free  and 
competent  independence,  there  was  a  third.  We  have  not 
readied  that  stage  yet,  when  the  actual  OMiperation  of  tiie 
foreign  missions  is  no  longer  needed,  and  when  any  help  to 
be  rendered  by  the  foreign  Church  may  be  given,  if  it  is  needed 
at  all,  outright  and  direct.  Even  when  that  time  comes,  as 
some  Japmese  nn^akenly  thiidc  that  it  has  come  m  tfwhr  coun- 
try, there  may  still  be  for  some  time  a  work  for  the  selected 
missionary  to  do,  very  delicate  and  difficult,  but  valuaUe.  Mr. 
Ebina,  a  very  "advanced"  leader  of  tfie  Japanese  Congrega- 
tional Church,  last  year  addressed  a  statement  to  the  foreign 
missionaries  in  Japan  in  which  he  set  forth  services  which  he 
believed  they  were  still  needed  to  render,  and  there  are  others : 

The  mission  of  the  missionary  is  not  merely  to  propagate 
ideas.  Witib  his  own  character  he  must  seek  to  infltience  the 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  169 


character  of  others.  We  must  pajr  Ae  profoundest  respect  to 
the  character  of  England  and  America,  which  has  been  nurtured 
now  for  over  a  tiiousand  years.  Without  doubt  tiwre  are  mmoog 

them  contemptible  men,  but  when  we  speak  of  them  as  a  whole, 
it  is  not  too  great  praise  to  say  that  they  excel,  not  by  a  day 
nor  a  year,  but  by  a  hundred  years.  And  foreign  missionaries 
are  their  rqiresentadves.  For  example,  let  us  compare  the  atti- 
tude of  some  of  our  young  evangelists  with  that  of  the  young 
foreign  missionarits.  The  former,  after  their  studies  in  Tokyo, 
go  out  into  the  country  to  preach,  but  after  two  or  three  years 
they  grow  pessimistic,  disheartened,  give  vent  to  dissatisfaction 
and  complamts,  cannot  endure  their  cadling.  The  latter  exhibit 
endurance,  detemrination,  boldness,  and  humility.  Without  free- 
dom in  the  use  of  the  language,  in  the  midst  of  an  imperfect 
social  organisation,  compelled  to  listen  to  most  discordant  music, 
living  among  the  Japanese  with  their  utterly  different  customs, 
tiiese  men  (userve  our  admiration.  The  two  are  simply  not  to 
be  compared. 

Nay,  more.  The  Japanese  are  far  from  attaining  to  the  in- 
domitable perseverance  of  the  men  who  have  gone  with  their 
Gospel  to  such  places  as  Africa,  the  South  Sea  Islands,  and 
central  China.  It  is,  of  course,  true  that  there  are  defects  among 
the  Qiristians  of  Ei^;land  and  America,  but  as  gentlemen  and 
as  ladies  they  conduct  themselves  as  if  they  had  received  the 
baptism  of  Bushido.  Now,  you  missionaries  are  the  represent- 
atives of  these  men  and  women.  Therefore,  as  elder  brothers, 
it  is  your  duty  to  give  to  the  Japanese  the  refining  influence  of 
ttiis  pure  and  lofty  character.  To  be  a  genuine  Christian  gentfe- 
man  is  the  highest  thing  that  a  Japanese  can  learn.  We  must 
hope  that  you  will  take  a  more  positive  attitude  toward  the 
Japanese.  Because  of  your  deep  reserve,  you  have  suffered  to  go 
unsaid  many  thin|p  that  vou  wished  to  say.  As  far  as  you 
were  conccraed,  tins  was  unavoidaUe,  but  ]rour  beloved  younger 
brethren  need  your  reproof  whenever  occasion  offers.  Even 
though  you  should  be  disliked  and  hated  for  it,  in  the  name 
of  Christ  you  should  have  all  boldness.  When  viewed  from 
the  Christian  standpoint,  the  Japanese  character,  down  to  the 
very  wtmis  they  use,  needs  no  Uttfe  re{<Mrm.  There  certainly 
must  be  many  things  that  meet  your  eyes  and  ears  which  as 
Christians  cause  you  pain.  We  trust  that  on  these  points  you 
will  not  hesitate  to  wield  the  lash.  We  know  of  your  efforts  to 
make  apologies  for  the  Japanese  before  Westerners,  and  we 
are  deeply  grateful  therefor;  but  we  cannot  hdp  hopfav 
that  for  the  benefit  of  the  Japanese  themselves  ycm  mu 


ijo       CH&ISTIANITy  AND  THE  NATIONS 


point  oat  tiidr  fatdts  wMioirt  reserve,  md  try  to  faqwove 
tiienL 

We  must  perfect  oarsdves  bjr  means  of  the  religious  con- 
sciousness of  Germany,  England,  and  America.  Christianity, 
except  that  of  these  three  countries,  we  cannot  regard  very 
highlv.  Nor  do  we  think  diat  we  should  abandon  our  Shinto, 
Buddhism,  and  Confucianisni,  or  set  aside  our  Bushido  to  em- 
brace such  a  faith.  The  Christiantty  of  the  Protestant  nations 
alone  has  value  for  the  whole  world.  This  Protestant  religious 
consciousness  may  in  a  certain  sense  be  said  to  be  of  greater 
importance  tiian  the  Scripture.  The  CMd  Testament  has  value 
only  as  tins  consciousness  revods  in  it  a  new  meaning.  And 
the  true  value  of  even  tiie  new  Testament  can  be  revealed  only 
as  one  possesses  this  consciousness  and  experience.  It  goes  with- 
out saying  that,  if  this  living  consciousness  and  experience  are 
wanting.  Old  and  New  Testament  alike  cannot  revod  this  won- 
derful glory.  Our  revered  and  beloved  iorti^  missionaries  are 
die  Irving  representatives  of  this  lofty  religious  consciousness 
and  experience.  We  Japanese  even  now  demand  just  this  thing. 
Whether  the  nation  shall  have  a  vigorous  and  well  roundel 
develofnnent  or  not  depends  on  wheuier  <Mr  aoC  we  aniafiate 
diis  consciousness  smd  experience. 

Such  being  the  case,  is  not  your  mission  in  Japan  perfectly 
clear?  The  purpose  of  your  preaching  is  not  to  save  men  from 
Hell ;  there  is  no  need  for  that  sort  of  preaching  in  Japan.  The 
Japanese  have  set  their  faces  toward  Heaven  and  are  making 
progress  in  that  direction.  If  the  old  methods  of  nustuooary 
work  are  to  be  continued,  your  mission  is  surely  ended.  But 
if  you  will  share  with  other  men  and  with  another  people  your 
own  experience  and  the  religious  consciousness  of  your  nations, 
and  if  the  burden  of  your  message  is  the  common  enjomneat 
of  the  blessit^s  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  your  miaawn  in 
Japan  is  mamfest.  It  is  your  unkjtie  duty  to  share  with  the 
men  of  Japan  the  basic  religious  consciousness  of  the  Protestant 
nations.  Was  it  not  for  just  such  work  as  this  that  Christ 
died  upon  the  cross  ?  The  religious  consciousness  of  the  Japanese 
possesses  a  certain  excellence  of  its  own,  but  I  need  not  say  how 
tmmature  it  is.  You,  with  your  strong,  clear,  ediical  conscious- 
ness, and  your  kindly,  peaceful,  loving  sensibilities,  have  you 
not  a  motive  that  ought  to  call  forth  faith  from  us  men  of 
Japan?  If  you  are  conscious  of  this,  then  your  flrission  is  as 
clear  as  the  day. — (Danjo  Ebina,  on  "  The  Mtssioa  of  the  For- 
eign Missk»aries  in  Japan,"  in  die  ShiMji$^  tnuudi^  in  the 
J^aa  WiMy  MaU,  March  a^,  X909>) 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHURCHES  m 


For  how  long  a  time  in  the  great  n^ssion  fields  of  tbe  forXd 
the  foreign  missionary  enterprise  has  a  work  to  do  we  cannot 
say.  Everything  can  be  predicted  but  the  unfolding  of  life, 
and  it  is  witii  Ufc  tint  we  arc  dealing.  Birt  die  goal  will  be 

the  more  quickly  and  surely  reached  if  we  see  clearly  three 
things:  first,  the  <<^t  principle  on  which  we  are  working; 
second,  the  great  need  that  must  be  supplied;  and  third,  the 
great  difficulty  which  we  meet. 

The  great  principle  we  have  already  defined.  It  is  the  estab- 
lishment of  true  national  Churches.  There  may  be  some  who 
fed  tiiat  the  idod  of  tfw  mdty  of  humanity  reqtnres  sonetMng 
more  than  this.  "A  theolc^cal  ideal  which  I  believe  should 
determine  in  a  measure  the  ecclesiastical  principle  in  mission 
work  is  that  of  the  Church  Catholic,"  writes  a  tfioo^ful  mis- 
sionary. "  This  involves,  I  take  it,  not  only  the  unity  of  all 
Christians  in  any  given  land,  but  also  unity  of  all  Christians 
in  all  lands.  The  conception  of  as  many  independent  Churches 
as  tiwre  ate  countries  or  nations  seeds  tfie  contfriemental  tdca 
'lat  all  members  are  om  .  pennaner»tly  united  in  service 
and  in  life."  It  is  indisputah!  ^o.  But  the  unity  of  the  body 
is  the  unity  of  many  diverse  ler''  -.  The  unity  of  the  hmiy 
is  At  unity  of  its  separate  'nui  -.Icals,  and  the  richne<s  ai'.d 
power  of  the  family  life  depend  on  the  perfection  of  indr-  '  JijaJ- 
ism  in  its  mendters.  The  unity  of  humanity  require^  nc  .  t^ 
devdopnent  of  aB  those  members  of  Iwmuttty  whose  perfectioa 
of  separate  service  is  to  make  possible  the  perfect  rharacter  and 
service  of  the  whole.  And  those  -.tibers  of  hurrtoiiity  arr  the 
nations  and  the  Churches  each  wirhin  its  natioo.  The  natioB 
is  as  divine  an  institution  as  eithor  the  fzrr  "' '  or  the  Church, 
and  is  to  have  its  own  religious  life  uttered  aiid  inspired  by  the 
Church.  The  late  Bishop  Whiffle,  presiding  Ushop  of  the 
E{Mscopal  Chordi,  set  fortii  our  prindpie  in  Us  auto- 


1  t 


I  believe  that  national  Churches  are  the  normal  law  of 
Church  extension,  and  that  in  the  past,  centralisation  of  authority 
beyond  n^onid  bounds  has  been  full  of  machi^  and  has  broo^ 
sorrow  to  tiie  Ctotrch.  Xa  osy  scmmi  befnre  Ac  Laiiibcth  Con* 


172        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


ference  of  1888, 1  said:  "  We  meet  as  representatives  of  national 
Churches,  each  with  its  own  peculiar  responsibilities  to  God 
for  the  souls  entrusted  to  its  care,  each  with  all  the  rights  of 
a  national  Church  to  adapt  itself  to  the  varying  conditions  of 
human  society,  and  each  bound  to  preserve  the  order,  the  faith, 
the  sacraments,  and  the  worship  of  the  Catholic  Church  lor 
whivh  it  is  a  trustee." 

In  these  words  I  voiced  the  sentiment  of  our  late  prim?  ?, 
Bishop  Williams,  who  wrote  me  before  my  departure  for  :  ic 
Lambrai  Ccmference,  expressing  the  hope  that  in  all  our  delibera- 
tions nothi^E  would  be  done  to  affect  the  prert^tives  of  national 
Churches,  affirming  that  in  the  past  the  cn^atest  evils  which 
have  come  to  the  Church  have  come  through  usurpation  of 
the  rights  of  national  Churches,  and  that  it  was  more  impor- 
tant that  we  should  maintain  our  primitive  and  apostolic 
position  because  the  Church  of  England  wras  allied  to  the 
State.  .  .  . 

Each  national  Church  has  its  own  particular  difficulties  grow- 
ir,;  out  of  the  sad  divisions  among  Christian  men,  and  under 
Ood  it  alone  can  solve  these  difficulties  and  heal  these  divi- 
sions. There  is  danger  that  this  work  may  be  hindered,  if 
not  prevented,  by  any  appearance  of  the  intervention  of  a 
foreign  Churdi  against  winch  onjust  prejudices  nii|^  be 
aroused. 

There  is,  thank  God,  a  growing  reaq^mtton  among  all  Eng- 
lish-speaking Christians  that  thev  have  a  common  mission  m 
evangelising  the  world.  But  until  the  race  of  jingoes  shall  have 
perished  from  the  earth,  I  believe  that  an  intervention  of  one 
national  Church  in  the  affairs  of  another  will  certainly  bring 
•crrow. — (Wh»plb,  "  Li^ti  and  Endows  of  a  Long  i^^ico* 
P«e."  PP-  459-463.) 

This  is  the  ideal  tiiat  we  seek,  the  ideal  of  free  national 
Churches,  through  which  alone  a  universal  Churdi,  rkh  with  all 
the  varied  treasure  of  humanity,  can  be  realised. 

The  great  need  is  for  leadership,  not  primarily  missionary 
leadership,  though  the  missionaries  themselves  meeting  these 
great  problems  face  to  face  are  ever  seeking  for  this,  but  the 
leadership  of  strong  native  men  who,  knowing  their  own  people, 
restti^  upon  them,  holdiiv  them  fast,  will  accomplish  amcng 
them  that  of  which  tite  ndttiaiis  have  drewned  and  for  whidi 
they  have  toiled. 


MISSIONS  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHtTRCHES  173 

And  the  great  difficulty  is  not  in  the  policy  of  the  mtsiioiu, 
nor  in  the  ideals  of  the  missionaries.  It  is  in  human  nature. 
Men  respond  slowly  to  God.  They  were  nude  for  Him,  and 
the  deep  huiifer  is  tiiere,  but  thqr  will  not  come.  The  ideal  of 
periecting  the  spiritual  character  of  a  race,  of  realising  the 
dream  of  a  united  humanity — none  other  can  compare  with  it, 
but  tfiere  are  nearer  interests— daily  bread  and  games,  and  war 
and  trade,  and  the  roar  of  the  whole  great  world  overwhdnis 
the  whisper  of  its  soul.  The  new  Churches  are  made  up  of 
common  human  beings  like  ourselves,  but  without  our  Christian 
inheritance.  Their  leaders  are  men  of  their  own  ranks.  Where 
are  there  any  others?  Some  of  them  are  good  and  thoughtful 
men,  who  share  our  ideals  and  are  earnestly  worki  .ig  to  make 
them  real.  Some  of  them  are  eager  to  reach  the  end  without 
travelling  over  the  intervenii^  road.  They  want  self-gomn- 
ment  when  there  is  as  yet  nothing  to  govern.  Their  thoughts 
are  of  places  rather  than  of  service.  We  are  told  of  the  "  one 
Christian  Gautama  (who)  sitting  under  his  tree  to  shake  the 
Asiatic  world  with  his  thoughts,  would  be  worth  all  the  English, 
Scotch,  or  American  missionaries  who  have  laboured  or  died 
for  their  faith  since  Henry  Martyn  or  Dr.  Carey."  But  we 
cannot  forget  that  "  the  eariy  Church  had  to  wait  centuries  for 
its  Augustines  and  its  Chrysostoms,  and  to  endure,  in  early 
converts  who  took  the  lead,  much  unripe  fruit.  The  Gnostics 
were  instances  of  Gredc  Christianity  trying  to  cut  k)ose  from 
the  Hebrew  leading  strings.  Monastidsm  was  another  out- 
growtli  of  the  amalgamation  of  pagan  and  Christian  ideas  by 
new  converts.  But  the  deepest  depths  reached  by  Christian 
iMTttics  were  as  nodifaiff  to  tiie  ^gradation  Buddhinn  under- 
went at  the  hands  of  new  converts,  who  took  the  lead  in  shaping 
its  presentation  to  their  countrymen.  The  Tai-pings,  again,  are 
an  illustration  of  what  Christianity  might  become  in  the  hands 
of  a  Chinese  '  Christian  Gautama,  sitting  under  a  tree  to  shake 
the  Asiatic  world  with  his  thoughts.'  It  is  evident  that  long 
contcct  with  the  Gospel  constitutes  the  necessary  prerequisite 
to  sane  and  effective  missionary  woric"— (Editorial,  "  Mtiaiom 
and  Heredity,"  Thg  Sunday  S<kool  Tim**,  Jufy  17.  1197.)  It 


»74 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


is  no  short  and  easy  task  which  we  have  undertaken,  and  the 
difficulties  are  great,— not  short,  for  it  will  take  our  lifetime; 
not  easy,  for  it  will  take  our  lives,  and  difficult  because  it  is 
great,  but  short  and  easy  for  God,  and  sure  if  He  has  t»  for 
His  free  and  nmcst^  tn^dng. 


IV 

MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


IV 


MISSIONS  AND  POUTICS 

THE  political  problems  of  missions  ante  from  the  fact 
that  the  missions  are  foreign,  the  missionaries  who  carry 
them  on  are  foreigners,  and  the  religion  which  they 
carry,  daiming  to  be  tmhrenal,  is  seen  to  be  a  foreign  rdigfam 
by  those  to  wlwm  it  is  offered.  Christianity  in  the  first  three 
centuries  fa':ed  grave  political  questions,  but  it  did  not  face 
these  problems  of  modem  missions.  The  early  Chrittitn  miitfan 
was  carried  <»  in  tiie  Roman  Empire.  The  missionaries  were 
native  Roman  citizens  or  Roman  subjects.  The  religion  was 
hostile  to  the  established  religion  and  it  was  at  times  proscribed, 
but  H  was  not  foreiga  in  the  sense  in  which  Chrittiaaity  i» 
fore^  ttHlay,  as  complicated  with  a  foreign  civilisation  and 
foreign  governments;  at  the  outset  it  was  allowed  a  free  course, 
and  the  persecutions  when  they  came  were  not  continuous  or 
pennaiMirt.  Hie  issue  was  one  of  domestic  politics,  of  the  rda> 
tion  of  Church  and  Sute,  of  the  adjustment  of  the  Christian 
and  his  religion  to  the  poUtical  order  in  which  they  belonged. 
This  is  only  part  of  the  problcm  tonlay.  It  is  the  nniveml 
part  to  which  there  are  many  elements  added  bf  tiie  dittiaetivt 
character  of  modem  foreign  missions. 

The  poUtical  aspects  of  Christian  missions,  aooordingty,  an 
inevitable.  I'he  Boxer  troubles  brot^  Omn  forward  into  tiit 
thought  of  all  the  world,  but  they  were  not  new.  Fifty  years 
before  tiiey  had  been  pressed  on  the  world  in  connection  with 
the  Indian  Mutiny,  and  scarcely  anything  was  said  in  1900  about 
the  poUtical  status  of  missionaries  and  the  political  problems  of 
the  movement  that  had  not  been  said  in  1857,  or  even  earlier. 
At  their  very  inception  foreign  missicms  were  so  entangled  with 

m 


178 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


politics  that  it  almost  seemed  that  the  enterprise  would  be  stifled 
at  its  birth.  The  East  India  Company  prohibited  the  work  and 
excluded  the  missionaries  from  its  territories.  Carey  had  to 
begin  his  work  under  the  Danish  flag.  Judson  was  shut  out 
from  India  by  political  opposition  and  had  to  change  his  plans 
and  settle  in  Bumuh,  and  there  all  sorts  of  political  per- 
plexities beset  him.  For  years  the  work  in  India  was  eitiier 
forbidden  or  discouraged  or  offset  by  the  East  India  Company. 
When  in  1807  the  missionary  press  at  Serampore  issued  "  An 
address  to  all  persons  professing  the  Moslem  faith,"  the  Danish 
Governor  of  Serampore  was  instantly  requested  by  the  Ciovemor- 
General  and  Council  of  the  East  India  Company  to  interpose  his 
authority  to  prohibit  the  issue  of  any  more  copies  of  the  pam- 
phlet or  of  any  puUications  of  a  similar  description.  Not  long 
after,  the  British  authorities  issued  an  order  forUdding  preach- 
ing and  prohibiting  the  missionaries  from  printing  any  books 
"  directed  to  the  object  of  converting  the  natives  to  Christianity." 
And  tiie  resolutkms  of  tiie  Supreme  Council  to  this  effect  were 
justified  on  the  ground  that  "  the  obligation  to  suppress  within 
the  limits  of  the  Company's  authority  in  India  treatises  and 
public  preachings  offensive  to.  tfie  religious  persuasions  of  tilt 
people,  were  founded  on  considerations  of  necessary  caution,  gen- 
eral safety,  and  national  faith  and  honour." 

Many  non-Christian  lands  were  entirely  closed  not  only  to 
fnissKMrnries,  but  to  all  foreigners,  stKh  as  Japan,  Kmrw,  and 
China.  When  foreigners  were  at  length  admitted  to  these  coun- 
tries it  was  by  political  arrangements  which  applied  equally  to 
all  classes  of  people,  and  none  could  enter  save  on  the  bans  of 
these  arrangements.  To-day  there  are  countries  sue  h  as  Turicey 
where  no  one  can  enter  without  a  passport  granted  by  his  gov- 
ernment, and  in  some  of  these  lands  like  Turkey  and  Persia 
tiwre  are  traditkmal  ptrfitical  anrmgements  governing  all  nativ* 
Christian  bodies,  which  bring  at  once  all  who  have  relations  to 
these  bodies  within  an  absolutely  unavoidable  tangle  of  political 
questions.  And  the  propositkm  to  make  Christian  <tiac^dct  in 
thMt  Moslem  lands  raises  inuMdiat^,  at  we  sluitt  tat,  tfia  aoK 
acute  political  issues. 


MISSIONS  AND  POUTICS 


Even  those  who  think  that  missionaries  should  not  be  re- 
ligious propagandists,  and  who  find  in  their  religious  zeal  the 
source  of  the  political  perplexities  which  arise,  approve  of  Ae 
medical  and  educational  work  of  missions.  But  such  work  can 
only  be  carried  on  in  buildings  and  on  land,  the  acquisition  and 
titles  of  which  open  at  once  the  whole  poUtical  issue.  Treaties 
have  to  be  made  coivermg  tiiese  qiMstiom,  registrations  are  re- 
quired, rights  have  to  be  defined,  and  problems  of  taxation 
settled.  The  missionary  movement  has  to  be  carried  on  on 
the  earth,  and  all  the  problems  of  the  earth  ensnare  it 

These  pditkal  bearings  of  foreign  missions  are  simply  in- 
evitable and  inescapable.  Missionaries  have  created  some  of 
them,  some  unwisely,  some  unavoidably,  but  some  have  been 
created  for  tiiem  by  others,  or  have  lain  in  *e  wture  of  tfmigs. 
They  are  here  now,  at  any  rate,  and  the  moveoKnt  mart  deal 
with  them. 

The  Western  natiens  will  not  let  missions  escape  from  their 
political  relatkmdiip.  Even  if  they  widied  to  escape  they  woukl 
not  be  allowed  to  do  so.   Citizens  are  citizens,  and  each  nation 
cannot  do  otherwise  than  keep  watch  over  its  own.  The  proUems 
springing  frwn  such  sin^  watchftdnew  and  protectkm  have 
been  eclipsed  by  the  consequences  of  the  acts  of  Western  na- 
tions in  using  missions  as  pretexts  for  invasion  and  aggrandise- 
ment. A  missionary  pretext  served  Germany  as  the  ground  for 
•ctioB  in  Africa,  which  broi^ht  on  the  partitionment  of  the  mm- 
tinent,  and  it  was  Germany's  action  in  Shantung  in  the  seizure 
of  Kiao-Chou  bay  which  partly  caused  and  entirely  precipiUted 
die  Boxer  uprising.   France  has  been  guilty  of  nsore  oKtmm, 
ttoogfa  iK>  act  of  hers  has  yielded  such  tragic  results  as  Ger- 
many's two.   For  damages  inflicted  on  French  missions  in  the 
interior  of  China  the  French  consul  at  Choongking  demanded 
at  oompcnsatkm  "minh^  ^(fats  in  six  districts  of  Szechuen, 
over  six  degrees  of  latitude,  together  with  an  in- 
demnity of  i,aoo,ooo  Uels.   In  May,  1898,  Pin  Berthollet,  a 
French  misskmary  in  Kwat^i.  was  mnrdcrcd.    Ainoi«  otli«r 
compensations  for  this  outrage,  the  French  Government  ob- 
tained the  right  to  hoild  a  railway  from  Ptdihoi  to  Nawiii«. 


ite       CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


This  ooaeesdoQ,"  adds  Professor  Rdnidi,  "  was  sought  mainly 
in  order  to  prevent  a  grant  of  the  concession  to  Great  Britain. 
The  manner  in  which  reUgious,  industrial,  and  political  con- 
sideratioos  are  combined  in  tilts  case  produces  a  somewhat  in- 
congruous result." — (Reinsch,  "World  Politics,"  p.  146.)  No 
one  has  protested  against  such  incongruities,  such  iniquities, 
as  the  missionaries  have  done.  There  may  have  been  rare  indi- 
viduals who  wdcomed  them,  but  no  one  who  loves  justice, 
much  less  any  one  who  understands  and  accepts  the  missionary 
aim  can  do  otherwise  than  abhor  them  and  lament  the  disastrous 
effects  upon  the  unity  of  the  world  and  upon  tiie  missionary 
enterprise  which  is  its  chief  hope,  of  the  lawless  brigandage 
and  international  crimes  of  Western  nations.  The  non-Christian 
peoples  cannot  be  blamed  for  identifying  missions  and  politics 
and  die  misnon  cause  suffers  incalculably  from  the  confusion. 

The  fact  of  the  confusion  immensely  complicates  and  hinders 
the  missionary  movement.  The  movement  even  without  such 
confusion,  presented  in  its  purity,  would  be  diflScuIt  of  under- 
standing in  many  countries.  Its  unselfishness  would  be  mis- 
interpreted and  its  ideals  mistrusted.  But  the  Eastern  nations 
have  not  been  left  free  to  view  it  in  its  purity.  The  foreign 
missions  which  we  carry  on  are  met  by  tiM  most  intricate  net- 
work of  political  misconceptions.  An  article  in  the  Nida-Ye- 
Vatan  in  Teheran  in  1907,  protesting  against  the  agreement 
between  Groit  Britain  and  Russia  as  to  spheres  of  influence  in 
Persia,  shows  how  far  the  effects  of  proceedings  in  China  rcadi, 
for  no  wrong  oi  this  sort  has  ever  been  done  in  Persia : 

"  So  then  we  with  loud  voice  say  to  the  Persians,  if  you 
do  not  yoursdves  invite  the  Rusrians  and  tiie  ^igtish,  for  a 
thousand  years  they  will  not  enter  your  country.  The  invitation 
to  them  is  in  several  ways.  One  is  to  oppress  the  subjects  of 
foreign  countries,  and  it  is  also  necessary  that  we  make  this 
point  clear.  The  subjects  of  foreign  countries  place  themselves 
in  the  r^on  of  oppression,  and  for  the  sake  of  advancing  their 
own  country  are  ready  to  give  themselves  to  death,  as  is  the 
custiom  of  die  foreign  priests  for  tiw  most  part;  and  it  is  ne- 
tnmy  tiiat  in  tikis  nmtttr  there  shookl  be  ^«cial  ears." 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS  iti 


Dr.  Ross  has  described  for  us  the  frame  of  mind  to  whidi 
the  first  mtsstoiis  in  Manchuria  had  to  address  themsdvcs: 

At  tiie  initiation  of  the  mission  in  Newchang  in  1873  it  was 
discovered  that  the  Oiinese  were  deeply  and  angrily  suspidous 
of  the  missionary.  As  we  read  in  Du  Halde,  this  suspidcm 
became  chronic  in  China,  soon  after  the  Jesuits  had  established 
themselves  in  the  country.  Sir  George  Staunton,  in  his  history 
of  Earl  Itfacartney's  Embassy,  refers  to  the  same  suspicion  and 
its  causes.  The  suspicion  in  Newchang  was  but  the  echo 
of  the  louder  and  older  suspicion  in  China  proper.  Ap- 
pearances deepened  the  belief  that  the  missionary  had  some  secret 
design  not  omsistent  with  the  peace  or  the  freedom  of  China. 
The  merdiant  was  there  avowedly  for  gain.  The  doctor  was 
working  to  make  a  fortune.  The  consul  was  well-paid  for  look- 
ing after  his  countrymen.  But  for  what  was  the  missionary 
there?  The  people  knew  nothing  of  Christianity,  not  even  the 
most  elementary  truths.  It  was  the  general  belief  that  Jesus 
was  the  reigning  sovereign  of  "  foreigndom,"  by  which  generic 
title  Europe  was  known  to  the  Chinese,  who  could  not  differen- 
tiate between  the  various  nationalities.  China  was  the  land  of 
beauty  and  wealth,  and  foreigndom  the  land  of  poverty — for  if 
not,  why  should  foreigners  leave  their  own  land?  Hence  King 
Jesus  seat  an  army  into  China  in  1843,  and  another  in  1860^ 
to  take  possession  of  the  land  of  wealth  and  beauty.  The  armies 
were  victoi;ous,  but  were  compelled  to  return  again,  as  there 
was  no  party  of  Chinese  to  welcome  them.  Force  had  twice 
proved  inadequate,  and  therefore  cunning  was  resorted  to. 

These  relations  of  missions  to  politics  arise  not  only  from 
the  actions  of  Western  nations  and  the  ideas  of  Eastern  peoples, 
but  from  the  certain  consequences  of  missionary  activity.  It  is 
a  revolntiomury  force  wUdi  onsdoiM  carry  ^  m»Cki^ 
tian  mttiw- 

It  is  a  iMce  which  affects  life.  The  religion  of  which  the 
missionarfes  are  the  custodians  and  propagandists,  as  Dr.  Oswald 
Dykes  remarked  at  the  London  Conference  in  1888,  is  "a 
religion  which  appeals  to  man's  nature  through  all  its  avenues, 
and  which  aims  at  satisfying  all  its  cravings  and  nee^."  This 
religion  deals  wWtt  men  in  their  activities  and  relationships. 
ThoM  who  fed  its  spirit  instantly  bKomc  kadcrs  in  woric 


iSa        CHRISTIANITy  AND  THE  NATIONS 

senrke  On  Sqitaiiber  i,  190B,  tfie  J^Mmete  Gontmam  hM 

a  convention  of  native  leaders  in  philanthropic  enterprises,  such 
as  orphanages,  ex-convict  homes,  {«^ctory-girls'  homes,  resale 
hooMS,  blind  asylums,  and  many  other  kutittttioas  dw^ncd  to 
um&mite  the  condition  of  the  unfortunate  or  the  depraved 
classes  of  society.  There  were  lectures  on  all  kinds  of  social 
subjects.  The  Christians  of  Japan  are  less  than  one  two-hun- 
drcdtiis  of  the  popolation.  Tlwy  were  one>ninth  of  this  con- 
ference. The  Buddhists  outnumber  the  Christians  in  the  Em- 
pire two  hundred  to  one;  in  this  conference  only  five  to  one. 
The  schools  through  which  missions  spread  light  tiirow  tii^ 
light  into  all  recesses  of  life  and  affect  the  policies  of  nations. 
Modem  Turkey  testifies  to  the  work  of  Robert  College  at  Con- 
stantinople and  tlie  Syrian  Protestant  College  at  Beirut.  Au- 
thoritative voices  have  recognised  the  tSteU  of  missions  vipca 
Chinese  life  and  policy.  "  The  history  of  modem  educatioii  in 
China,"  says  Dr.  Yen,  Secretary  of  the  Chinese  Legation  in 
Washington,  "covers  a  period  of  only  a  few  years,  but  tiw 
system  has  made  wonderful  strides  in  that  period,  and  certainty 
tlie  work  is  considered  by  our  Govemment  and  people  alike  at 
the  most  urgent  and  most  important  we  have  on  hand.  .  .  . 
A  large  part  of  the  crHit  for  initiating  tiiis  wonderful  edtica- 
tional  movement  in  our  country  is  due  to  missionary  foresight 
and  enterprise.  They  were  the  earliest  to  realise  the  importance 
of  changing  radically  our  obsolete  system  of  education,  and  to- 
day some  of  Uie  missionary  colleges  may  easily  be  classed  among 
our  best.  The  splendid  work  they  are  doing  is  appreciated 
and  recognised  by  our  Government  and  people.  ...  To  me 
tiie  educational  phase  of  tiie  missiortiry  labours  seems  the  mort 
important  and  most  influential.  Through  the  school  and  college 
the  missionary  comes  in  contact  with  the  upper  and  ruling  classes 
of  our  people,  and  the  influence  he  exercises  over  his  pupils 
in  the  classroom — the  future  leaders  of  tlie  Empire — will  help 
to  direct  our  future  national  policies." — {The  fntercollegian, 
February,  1909,  p.  116.)  And  at  a  banquet  in  New  York  to 
the  Inqwrial  Chinese  Coonnissioners  who  visit«d  the  West  in 
1906^  His  Excellency  Tuan  Fang,  recently  viceroy  of  Ouh-U, 


MISSIONS  AND  POUTICS  183 


declared :  "  We  take  pleasure  this  evening  in  bearing  testimony 
to  the  part  taken  by  American  missionaries  in  promoting  the 
progress  of  the  Chinese  people.  They  have  borne  the  light  of 
Wcstm  civilitatiaa  nrto  every  nook  and  comer  of  the  Empire. 
They  have  rendered  wcstimaMe  service  to  China  by  the  la- 
borious task  of  translating  into  the  Chinese  language  religious 
and  scMntific  works  of  tiie  West  They  help  us  to  bring  hapfu- 
ness  and  comfort  to  the  poor  and  the  suffering  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  hospitals  and  schools.  The  awakening  of  China, 
which  now  seems  to  be  at  hand,  may  be  traced  in  no  small 
measure  to  the  hand  of  the  missionary.  For  this  service  yon 
will  find  China  not  ungrateful."— (New  York  Sun,  February  3, 
1906.)  In  India  the  work  of  missions  among  the  low  or  outcaste 
people  is  profoundly  affecting  die  life  and  social  organisatwn 
of  India.  The  Bralunan  commissioner  for  the  state  of  Travan- 
core,  in  the  last  census  but  one,  bore  testimony  to  this  in  a 
state  paper  submitted  to  an  Indian  prince;  and  this  was  nearly 
twenty  years  ago,  before  Ae  greatest  movements  among  these 
people  had  been  begun  by  Christianity.  "  The  heroism  of  rais- 
ing the  low  from  the  slough  of  debasement,"  said  he,  "is  an 
element  of  civilisation  unknown  to  ancient  Ii^ta.  But  for  tiw 
ChriMtan  missioiiaries  in  the  country,  these  humble  orders  would 
forever  remain  unraised."  The  highest  educational  officer  in  the 
south  of  India  has  recently  set  forth  the  same  opinion  of  the 
Ufe-mooklti^^  diaractcr  of  tiie  work  done  fay  Qiristianity  in 
the  country.  In  a  report  to  the  Government  he  writes :  "  I 
have  frequently  drawn  attention  to  the  educational  progress  of 
the  native  Christian  community.  If  this  community  pursuM 
with  steadiness  the  present  policy  of  its  teachers,  there  can  be 
no  question  that  with  the  immense  advantages  it  possesses  in 
the  way  of  educational  institutions,  in  the  course  of  a  generation 
it  win  have  secured  a  preponderathig  positkm  in  aB  tiw  great 
professions,  and  possibly,  too,  in  the  industrial  enterprises  of 
the  country;  in  the  latter  because  no  section  of  the  community 
has  entered  on  the  new  departure  in  educatkm  with  greater 
earnestness  than  the  native  Christians."— (Quoted  in  Slater, 
"MissioM  and  Sociotogy"  pp.  4a,  51.)    The  testimony  that 


MiaOCOPV  RiSOUiTON  TEST  CHART 

(ANSI  and  tiO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


i84 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


could  be  cited  to  show  the  inevitable  effects  of  Christian  mis- 
nom  upon  tiw  life  of  men,  the  prindirfes  of  aoc^,  and  their 
political  organisation  is  unlimited.  (See  Dennis's  encyclopedic 
work,  "Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress.") 

It  must  suffice  to  add  but  one  other  illustration,  namely,  the 
Sandwich  Islands.  The  H<m.  Jdin  W.  Foster,  formerly  the 
American  Secretary  of  State,  and  a  man  of  extensive  diplomatic 
experience  and  authoritative  knowledge  of  the  Far  East,  has  told 
the  story  in  his  history  of  "  American  Diplomacy  in  die  Orient " : 

The  first  missionaries  were  kindly  received,  and  hopefully 
entered  upon  their  labours  under  favourable  conditions.  Addi- 
tional missionaries  were  sent  out  from  the  Boston  board,  and 
soon  they  were  actively  at  work  throughout  the  group.  Such 
great  success  attended  their  labours  that  withb  a  few  years 
we  larger  part  of  tiie  populatim  were  reported  as  adherents 
of  Christianity,  including  the  king  and  the  court.  In  1843,  John 
Quincy  Adams,  then  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Affairs  of  the  House,  made  a  report  to  Congress  in  which  he 
qoke  of  this  achievement  as  follows :  "  It  is  a  subject  of  cheer- 
ing contemplation  to  tiie  friends  of  human  improvement  and 
virtue  that,  by  the  mild  and  gentle  influence  of  Christian  charity, 
dispensed  by  humble  missionaries  of  the  Gospel  unarmed  with 
secular  power  within  the  last  qiiarter  of  a  century,  the  people 
of  this  group  of  islands  have  been  converted  from  the  lowest 
abasement  of  idolatry  to  tiie  blessings  of  the  Christian  Gomd; 
tmited  under  one  balanced  government;  rallied  to  the  fold  of 
civilisation  by  a  written  language  and  constitution  providing 
security  for  the  rights  of  persons,  property,  and  mind,  and  in- 
vested with  all  the  elements  of  nriit  and  power  which  can 
entitle  them  to  be  acknowledged  by  Oidr  brethren  of  the  htmun 
race  as  a  separate  and  independent  community."  The  islands 
were  visited  in  i860  by  the  well-known  American,  Richard  H. 
Dana,  who,  after  spending  some  time  in  investigating  the  work 
of  (he  missionaries,  on  his  return  to  the  United  States  published 
an  artide  upon  the  subject.  From  his  high  standing  as  a  lawyer, 
and  from  Uie  fact  that  he  was  not  a  member  of  the  denomina- 
tion which  wrought  this  great  transformation  in  the  population, 
his  statement  carries  great  weight.  The  following  extract  is 
taken  fr(an  his  article:  "It  is  no  small  thing  to  i^r  of  the 
missionaries  of  the  Ameriem  Board  that  in  tess  tfum  forty 
years  they  have  taught  this  whole  people  to  read  and  to  write, 
to  cipher  and  to  sew.  They  have  given  them  an  alphabet,  gram- 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS  185 


mar,  and  dictionary;  preserved  their  language  from  mtinctioa; 

given  it  a  literature,  and  translated  into  it  the  Bible  and  works 
of  devotion,  science,  entertainment,  etc.  They  have  established 
schods,  reured  up  native  teachers,  and  so  pressed  their  work 
that  now  the  proportion  of  inhabitants  who  can  read  and  write 
is  greater  than  in  New  England ;  and  whereas  tiiqr  fooml  tiwse 
islands  a  nation  of  half-naked  savages,  living  in  the  surf  and  on 
the  sand,  eatine  raw  fish,  fighting  among  themselves,  tyrannised 
over  by  feudsu  chiefs,  and  abandoned  to  sensuality,  they  now 
see  them  decently  clothed,  recognising  the  laws  of  marriage, 
knowing  something  of  accounts,  going  to  school  and  public  wor- 
ship with  more  regularity  than  the  people  do  at  home;  and 
the  more  elevated  of  them  taking  part  in  conducting  the  affairs 
of  the  ccmstitutional  monarchy  under  which  they  five,  holding 
seats  on  the  judicial  bench  and  in  the  legislative  chambers,  and 
filling  posts  in  the  local  magistracies."  The  result  of  Ais  wotk 
of  ttie  missionaries  was  seen  in  the  new  order  of  thin^^s  in  society 
and  government  Regulations  were  decreed  by  which  the  out- 
ward exUbitkm  of  licentiousness  and  intemperance  was  soueht 
to  be  restrained,  crime  and  disorder  punished,  and  the  civil  rights 
of  the  pe<^le  enforced  by  judicial  process.  The  government, 
which  had  before  been  a  despotic  autocracy,  assumed  a  con- 
stitutional form,  and  the  kitu^  was  aided  by  an  orn^ised  body 
of  advisers,  and  later  by  a  legislative  assembly.  The  political 
reorganisation  was  almost  entirely  the  work  of  the  missionaries. 
They  were  not  always  free  from  mistakes  in  government,  but 
they  always  studied  the  good  of  the  people  and  the  best  interests 
of  the  king.  Much  diversiw  of  sentiment  has  been  expressed 
by  writers  upon  tiie  effeets  of  the  labors  of  the  Christian  missioii- 
aries  in  the  Orient,  but  the  better  judgment  of  candid  observer! 
is  in  favour  of  their  beneficial  influence  on  the  rulers  and  tilt 
people,  even  aside  from  the  religious  considerations  involved.— 
(FosTBK,  "  American  Diplomacy  in  the  Orient,"  p.  ic6  ff.) 

Hawaii  presents  an  exceptional  situation,  for  there  missions 
became  naturalised  as  well  as  the  Church,  and  tiM  mistkmarics 
and  iMr  families  became  a  really  corporate  part  of  the  new 
life  which  Christianity  organised.  But  even  when  missions  have 
preserved  their  distinctively  religious  character  and  remained 
foreign  miMions,  they  have  affected  poUticBl  Hfe,  tfwt  it, 
life  oi  men  organised  in  the  state  and  in  local  government.  They 
have  done  so  in  the  deepest,  most  penetrating,  and  pervasive 
way  by  planting  in  men  a  new  principle  of  action  and  rdatioa> 


i86        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


ship  and  new  ideals  of  personal  and  national  duty.  This  was 
the  effect  of  the  first  preaching  of  Christianity.  It  strode 
straight  at  the  ethical  principles  and  relationships  of  mtn. 
"Moral  regeneration  and  the  moral  life  were  not  merely  one 
side  of  Christianity  to  Ftiul,"  says  Harnack  in  the  second  edi- 
tion of  "  The  Mission  and  Expansion  of  Christianity,"  "  but  its 
very  fruit  and  goal  on  earth.  The  entire  labour  of  the  Chris'ian 
mission  might  be  described  as  a  moral  enterprise,  or  the  awaken- 
ing and  strengthening  of  the  moral  sense.  Such  a  description 
would  not  be  inadequate  to  its  full  contents."  Yes,  provided 
"  moral "  is  understood  in  a  sufficiently  full  sense.  Christianity 
optnttd  at  once  on  the  individual  and  corporate  life.  It  does 
so  still.  It  penetrates  to  the  roots  of  motives,  and  by  relating 
men  anew  to  God,  relates  them  anew  to  their  fellow-men.  The 
new  Christian  Churches  are  themselves  schools  of  order  and 
freedom,  of  toyalty,  but  also  of  (femocraqr,  and  the  misskmary 
as  he  goes  to  and  fro  is  alike  the  reminder  and  the  hope  of  a 
free  and  serving  society.  No  other  force  operates  as  deeply  and 
as  transformingly  as  his.  A  traveller  in  Western  Asia,  William 
E.  Baxter.  M.P.,  testifies  to  what  he  heard  on  the  ground  in 
Egypt  and  Turkey.  "  I  found  that  men  of  all  nationalities  and 
creeds  emphatically  and  unanimously  gave  evidence  that  the  col- 
leges, ^ools,  churches,  and  odier  instittitkms,  oondttcted  witii 
most  conspicuous  ability,  with  a  remarkable  freedom  from  all 
sectarian  or  religious  narrowness,  by  American  missionaries, 
were  doing  more  for  the  civilisation  and  education  of  the  ignorant 
masses  of  the  East  than  any  other  agency  whatever." — (Barton, 
"The  Missionary  and  His  Critics,"  p.  64.)  And  abundant 
testimony  is  at  hand  from  those  who  have  themselves  been 
identified  with  the  otfier  agencies  by  which  the  West  is  tnat- 
forming  the  East.  The  words  of  Sir  W.  Mackworth  Young. 
K.C.S.I.,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  Punjab,  will  suffice.  Spcat^ 
ing  at  St.  Michaels,  Comhill,  on  March  4,  1902,  he  said : 

As  a  business  man  speaking  to  business  men  I  am  prepared 
to  say  that  the  work  which  has  been  done  by  missionary  agency 
in  India  exceeds  in  importance  all  that  has  been  done  (and  mwn 
has  been  done)  by  the  British  CSovermntnt  in  India  since  ita 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS  it? 


commencement.  Let  me  take  the  Province  which  I  know  best 
I  ask  myself  what  has  been  the  most  potent  influence  which 
has  been  working  among  the  people  since  annexation  fifty-four 
years  ago,  tmd  to  that  question  I  feel  there  is  but  one  answer — 
Christianity,  as  set  forth  in  the  lives  and  teaching  of  Christian 
missionaries.  I  do  not  underestimate  the  forces  which  have 
been  brought  to  bear  on  the  races  in  the  Punjab  by  our  beneficent 
rule,  by  British  justice  and  enlightenment;  but  I  am  convinced 
tihe  effect  on  native  character  produced  by  the  self-denying 
labours  of  missionaries  is  far  greater.  The  Punjab  bears  on 
its  historical  roll  the  names  of  many  Christian  statesmen  who 
have  honoured  God  by  their  lives  and  endeared  themselves  to 
the  people  by  their  faithful  work;  but  I  venture  to  say  that 
if  thqr  codd  speak  to  us  from  the  great  unseen,  there  is  not 
one  of  them  who  would  not  proclaim  that  the  work  done  by 
men  like  French,  Clark,  Newton,  and  Forman,  who  went  in 
and  out  among  the  people  for  a  whole  generation  or  more,  and 
who  preached  by  their  lives  the  nobility  of  self-sacrifice,  and 
tiie  ksaon  of  love  to  God  and  man,  is  a  higher  and  noUer  work, 
a&d  won  ^ur^readiky  in  its  oooscquenocsi 

Christianity,  it  must  be  said  again,  is  bound  to  widd  sudi 
fatftiaiecs  as  these.  The  true  corporate  life  of  man  has  to 
stand  on  religious  sanctions,  and  Christianity  inevitably  offers 
itself  as  providing  these  sanctions,  and  the  dissolution  of  the 
ancient  sanctions  of  by  dviHsation,  as  wdl  as  by  Chris- 
tianity, creates  a  necessity  which  no  power  can  prevent  Chris- 
tianity from  offering  itself  to  supply.  Capable  men  in  Asia 
see  this.  "  I  firmly  believe,"  said  Baron  Mayajima,  a  former 
mmdber  of  the  Japanese  cabinet,  "we  must  have  r^i^  m 
the  basis  of  our  t.  cional  and  personal  welfare.  No  matter  how 
large  an  army  or  navy  we  may  have,  unless  we  have  righteous- 
ness as  the  foundation  of  our  natimml  existence,  we  shall  tell 
•tort  of  the  highest  success.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  we 
must  have  religion  for  our  highest  welfare.  And  when  I  look 
about  me  to  see  what  religion  we  may  best  rely  upon,  I  am 
convinced  that  tiie  rdigion  of  Christ  is  the  one  most  fall  of 
strength  and  promise  for  the  nation." 

Christianity  is  bound  to  offer  itself  to  such  needs,  and  in 
<k>ing  so  and  in  affecting  life,  it  is  certain  to  work  with  up- 


i88 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


heaving  and  revolutionary  effects.  It  is  a  principle  of  life  and 
therefore  its  natural  utterai^e  is  by  orderly  devek^tment;  but 

when  opposed,  its  inalienable  nature  is  to  gather  strength  and 
to  burst  through  at  last.  The  Taiping  rebellion  hows  what  a 
terrible  distorticm  can  be  given  to  die  power  which  is  in  Chris> 
tianity.  The  whole  history  of  the  world  reveals  what  collisions 
are  certain  when  its  truth  in  its  purity  and  in  the  partial  forms 
in  which  we  cast  it,  seeks  a  home  for  itself  in  life.  M^.  Foster 
refers  to  this  in  his  discussion  of  troubles  in  China.  "The 
teaching  of  Christianity,"  he  says,  "  tende  i  to  the  introduction 
of  ideas  hostile  to  the  existing  governmental  order  and  struck 
at  ancestor  worship.  The  missionaries  opposed  such  native  cus- 
toms as  slavery,  concubinage,  support  of  heathen  festivals,  and 
foot-binding.  In  fact,  in  China  as  elsewhere,  and  in  all  ages, 
the  influence  of  Christianity  was  revolutionary.  Its  founder 
declared  that  He  came  '  not  to  send  peace  but  a  sword.'  Paul, 
the  first  missionary,  when  he  declared  '  the  Gospel  is  the  power 
of  God,'  used  the  Greek  word  which  has  been  anglicised  to 
designate  the  most  powerful  of  all  modem  explosives— <fynanttte. 
If  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  the  little  island  of  Britain 
was  attended  with  bloodshed  and  disorder  for  four  hundred 
years,  it  should  not  be  regarded  as  strange  that  in  the  mighty 
Emigre  of  the  East  its  prt^ngation  has  been  marked  by  dvfl 
commotion."— (Fosm,  "American  Difdonucy  in  tbt  Orient," 
p.  411) 

Even  n^w  we  have  not  exhausted  the  sources  of  tie  political 
entanglement  of  the  missionary  enterprise.  The  movement  in 
the  past  has  not  been  able  to  keep  itself  free  from  actual  political 
service.  Its  religious  principle  has  produced  political  results,  bu< 
also  its  agents  have  engaged  in  unmistakable  political  Mtivity. 
They  have  sought  to  determine  the  political  destinies  of  lands  and 
peoples.  One  of  the  many  notable  instances  was  John  Mackenzie 
of  South  Africa,  who  toiled  in  the  interest  of  the  native  peoples 
and  of  the  cause  of  dvilisatkm,  to  secure  what  he  believed  was 
the  best  sovereignty  for  large  areas  of  southern  Africa.  He  not 
oidy  wrought  at  home  in  England  to  this  end,  but  returned  to 
Africa  with  a  civil  anwintnwnt  as  administrator.    Hit  son 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS  it9 


draws  a  |»ctitre  of  his  pcditkal  activity  at  home  and  quotes  Hnt 
jttdgmeiit  of  Mr.  W.  T.  Stead: 

There  seemed  to  be  no  limit  to  his  activity.  He  interviewed 

cabinet  Ministers,  he  buttonholed  editors,  he  haunted  the  lobby 
of  the  House  of  Commons.  He  saw  every  one  who  had  any 
influence  in  the  matter,  and  compassed  sea  and  land  if  by  any 
means  he  might  make  one  proselyte.  When  the  Transvaal  dele- 
gates came,  ti\ey  imagined  that  they  had  only  to  come  and  see, 
and  conquer.  H  they  had  come  nine  months  earlier  their  antici- 
pations mieht  have  been  fulfilled.  When  they  arrived,  however, 
ft  was  too  late.  Mr.  Mackenzie  had  been  beforehand  with  Ihem, 
and  to  thdr  unomcealed  chagrin,  they  found  that  the  public 
would  not  tolerate  their  attempt  to  erect  a  Boer  barrier  across 
the  great  trade  route  from  the  Cape  to  Central  Africa.  Beditt- 
analand  was  saved,  and  much  more  than  Bechuanaland.  .  .  . 
Mr.  Mackenzie  secured  the  favourable  verdict  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  of  public  opinion,  not  merely  for  the  administrati<Mi 
of  Bechuanaland,  but  for  the  adoption  of  that  far-reaching  native 
policy  which  he  has  labelled  the  territorial  system.  .  .  .  With- 
out forgetting  for  a  moment  the  old  warning  against  boasting 
when  donning  our  armour,  we  may  safdy  say  that  we  bid  Mr. 
Mackenzie  uod-speed,  widi  every  confidence  that  hereafter  he 
will  live  in  the  annals  of  our  en^)ire  as  the  man  who,  at  a  grave 
crisis,  saved  Africa  for  Enghmd.— >(MACXBiixn»  "  Macktnaie  of 
South  Africa,"  p.  310.) 

At  the  Brussels  Conference,  in  1889-90,  missionaries  were 
among  the  active  agitators  in  behalf  of  die  limitation  of  the 
liquor  traffic  in  Africa  and  a  tiie  fight  against  tin  slave  trade 
and  the  importation  of  firearms  and  intoxicants  into  the  South 
Sea  Islands,  and  in  the  modem  war  against  the  opium  traffic, 
they  have  been  the  leaders.  David  Livingstone's  name  will  ever 
Hand  first  among  those  who  wrought  for  the  soctel  and  political 
redemption  Oi  Africa.  John  G.  Paton,  who  eschewed  all  political 
confusion  of  his  mission,  was  the  leading  spirit  in  protecting 
tiie  sav&ge  people  of  the  Pacific.  And  Bishop  Brent,  a  nda- 
sionary  in  tiie  RiiUppines,  was  Chairman  of  die  Intematiomd 
Conference  on  tiie  qMum  traffic  held  in  Shanghai,  Fdbruary, 

OftuiiiflMS  political  Mfvics  luM  ^ccr  ioipossd  ^ipm  nirisidlQft* 


CHRISTIANnY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


arics  by  their  home  governments,  in  circumstances  where  their 
governments  would  have  been  impotent  witiiout  them,  and 
where  it  would  have  been  a  disloyalty  to  civilisation  and  to 
humanity  for  them  to  refuse  their  aid.  Caleb  Gushing,  later 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  who  was  sent  to  China 
in  1844,  has  put  on  record  his  estimate  of  the  servicep  of  Ameri- 
can missionaries  to  the  representatives  of  the  Uni*  ^  States  in 
the  negotiation  with  China  of  the  first  treaties: 

In  the  late  negotiations  with  China,  the  most  important,  not 
to  say  indispensable  service,  was  derived  from  American  mis- 
sionaries, and  more  especially  from  Dr.  Bridgman  and  Dr. 
Parker.   They  nssessed  the  rare  qualification  of  understanding 
the  Chinese  language,  which  enabled  them  to  act  as  interpreters 
to  the  legation ;  their  intimate  knowledge  of  China  and  the 
Chinese  made  them  invaluable  as  advisers,  and  their  high  char- 
acter contributed  to  give  weight  and  moral  strength  to  the  mis- 
sion, and  while  their  co-operation  with  me  was  thus  of  eminent 
utility  to  the  United  States,  it  will  prove,  I  trust,  not  less  useful 
to  the  general  cause  of  humanity  and  of  religion  in  the  East. 
But  the  particular  service  rendered  by  the  American  missionaries 
in  this  case  is  but  one  of  a  great  class  of  facts  appertaining  to 
the  whole  body  of  Christian  missionaries  in  China.   In  the  first 
place,  other  legations  to  China  have  been  equally  dependent  on 
the  Christian  missionaries  for  the  means  of  intercourse  with  the 
Qiinese  government,  of  which  well-known  examples  occur  in 
the  history  of  the  successive  British  embassies  of  Lord  Macart- 
ney, Lord  Amherst,  and  Sir  Henry  Pottinger.    In  the  second 
place,  the  great  bulk  of  the  general  information  we  possess  m 
r^rd  to  Uiina,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  primary  philological 
information  concerning  the  two  great  languages  of  the  Chinese 
empire,  namely,  the  Chmese  and  the  Manchu,  are  derived  through 
the  missionaries,  both  Catholic  and  Protestant.    (Here  follows 
a  long  list  of  philological  works,  prepared  by  different  ndssion- 
aries.)   In  thus  briefly  answering  your  enquiry  on  a  single  point 
in  the  history  of  Christian  missions,  namely,  their  incidental 
usefulness,  permit  me  to  add  that,  eminently  great  as  this  their 
incidental  utility  has  been,  it  is  but  a  small  pomt,  comparativdy, 
among  the  great  and  good  deeds  of  the  religious  missionaries 
in  the  East.  There  is  not  a  nobler  nor  a  more  deeply  interesting 
chapter  than  this  in  the  history  of  human  courage,  intellect,  self- 
sacrifice,  greatness,  and  virtue;  and  it  rcmaiat  yet  to  be  written 


MISSIONS  AND  FOUTICS 


191 


in  a  manner  wordi^  of  tiie  dignity  of  the  subject,  and  of  its 

relations  to  civilisation  and  government,  as  well  as  to  the  Chris- 
tian Church. — (Bkidgman,  "  The  Missionary  Pioneer,"  pp.  132- 

134.) 

Mr.  Foster  has  borne  striking  testimony  to  the  services  ren- 
dered later  to  America  and  tiie  world,  most  of  all  tiie  Emgixt  of 
Japan,  by  S.  Wells  Williams,  a  missionary  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions- 

One  of  the  best  known  of  Americans  in  China  was  Dr.  S. 
Wells  Williams.  He  mastered  that  most  difficult  language,  and 
came  to  be  recognised  as  the  first  scholar  and  linguist  of  all 
the  foreign  residents.  When  our  Government  determined  to 
force  an  entrance  into  Japan,  which  had  been  hermeticany  "'osed 
against  all  foreigners  for  centuries.  Commodore  Perry  was  des- 
patched witii  a  formidable  fleet,  and  both  America  and  Eu  ipc 
were  laid  tmder  tribute  to  famish  men  of  learning  and  fitness 
to  make  the  expedition  a  success.  But  before  Commodore  Perry 
could  venture  on  the  first  diplomatic  step  in  his  woric,  he  haa 
to  repair  with  his  fleet  to  Canton  to  take  on  board  Dr.  Williams 
as  his  interpreter  and  adviser ;  and  the  narrative  which  the  Com- 
modore has  left  of  his  expedition  shows  that  in  securing  inter- 
course v'  *^''  authorities  and  in  the  details  of  treatjr  negotia- 
tions, I  >  IS  was  his  main  support,  and  to  him,  more 
than  to  .  person,  was  the  Commodore  indebted  for  die 
conq>lete  .cs<^  of  his  expedition,  which  has  brouj^t  so  mttch 
fame  to  American  diplomacy  and  which  has  given  to  the  United 
States  such  prominence  in  the  affairs  of  the  Far  East. 

When  the  allied  British  and  French  fleets  went  to  Tientsin 
in  1858  to  exact  treaties  from  China,  the  American  Minister 
took  with  him  Dr.  Williams  as  his  counsellor  and  interpreter, 
and  he  played  a  very  important  part  in  those  negotiations.  The 
Minister  reported  to  his  Government :  "  I  could  not  but  for  this 
aid  have  advanced  a  step  in  discharge  of  my  duties."  Years 
afterwards,  when  Dr.  Williams  was  leaving  China  to  return 
to  America  to  spend  the  evening  of  his  life,  the  Secretary  of 
State.  Mr.  Fidi,  wrote  hnn:  "Above  all,  the  Christian  world 
will  not  f(M|[et  that  to  you  more  than  to  any  other  man  is  due 
the  insertion  in  our  treaty  with  China  of  the  liberal  provision 
for  the  toleration  of  the  Christian  religion."  For  many  years 
after  tiiat  event  the  Doctor  continued  as  the  trusted  adviser  of 
oar  Gommaettt  in  1^  Chinese  questkos.  He  left  at  t  nmm- 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


ment  to  his  indastry  and  learning  the  Chinese  Dictionary,  and 
he  gave  to  the  world  in  his  "  Middle  Kingdom  "  the  most  com- 
plete work  on  China,  which  is  to  this  day  the  standard  autiiority 
on  that  country. 

Another  person  took  a  prominent  part  as  the  associate  of 
Dr.  Williams  in  the  Tientsin  expeditum  and  nq^otiatiaas  of 
1858— Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin,  who  went  to  that  comitry  as  a 
missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States.  He 
became  proficient  in  the  Chinese  language  and  literature,  and 
was  called  into  the  service  of  the  Imperial  Government.  For 
tiiirty  years  he  held  the  post  of  the  head  of  the  Chinese  educa- 
tional system  in  the  foreign  course  of  study,  and  has  acted  as 
an  adviser  to  its  Foreign  Office  in  international  affairs.  He  has 
translated  into  Chinese  our  own  standard  author  on  international 
law,  Wheaton,  and  other  Western  publicists.  He  has  been  of 
tnestimahle  service  to  the  Imperial  Govemmeni,  and  has  been 
characterised  by  Ministnr  Deidiy  as  "  the  foremort  Ameriou  in 
China." 

Such  are  some  of  the  services  which  Christian  missionaries 
have  rendered  to  the  Western  naticms  and  to  China  in  their 
political  and  diplomatic  relations.  It  is  not  too  modi  to  say 
that  up  to  the  middle  of  the  last  century  the  governments  of 
Europe  and  America  were  almost  entirely  dependent  upon  the 
missionaries  for  the  direct  conduct  of  their  intercourse  with 
Chinese  officials. — (Foster,  "  The  Relation  of  Diplomacy  to  For- 
eign Misdoos,"  pp.  13-15.) 

This  demand  for  diplomatic  service  did  not  come  from  the 
Western  nations  only.  Japan  besought  the  assistance  of  Ver- 
beck,  and  when  tiie  United  States  Government's  treaty  witii 
Siam  was  negotiated  in  1856,  Dr.  Wood  of  the  Embassy,  wrote 
that  "  the  unselfish  kindness  of  the  American  missionaries,  their 
patience,  sincerity,  and  faithfuhiess,  have  won  the  confidence 
and  esteon  of  the  natives,  and  hi  acmt  degree  transferred  ttioae 
sentiments  to  the  nation  represented  by  the  missionary  and  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  free  and  national  intercourse  now  com- 
mencing. It  was  very  evident  that  mudi  of  the  apprehension 
tiiey  felt  in  taking  upon  themselves  the  responsibilities  of  a 
treaty  with  us  would  be  diminished  if  they  could  have  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Mattoon  as  the  first  United  States  Consul  to  set  the  treaty 
in  motioa."   In  1871,  the  Regent  of  Siam  franldy  told  Mr. 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


■93 


Seward,  the  Uoited  States  Consul-Genera!  at  Shai^lHi,  "  Siam 
has  not  been  disciplined  by  English  and  French  guns  as  China 
has,  but  the  country  has  been  opened  by  missionaries."  The 
great  districts  of  Uganda  and  Nyassa  ui  Africa  were  pncticalty 
secured  to  Great  Britain  by  the  nussionaries  of  the  Church  of 
England  and  the  Scotch  Presbyterians.  When  the  East  Africa 
Company  was  on  the  point  of  giving  up  Uganda,  which  would  prob- 
aUy  have  involved  its  loss  to  Great  Britain,  tiie  Churdi  Mtswonary 
Society  raised  £15,000  of  the  £40,000  needed  to  maintain  the  Com- 
pany's hold  for  one  year  until  the  British  Government  could  be 
induced  to  take  it  over.  Of  the  work  of  tiie  Scotch  Presbyterians 
in  Nyassaland,  Joseph  Thomson,  the  traveller,  bears  testimony 
after  his  visit  in  1879.  "  Where  international  effort  has  failed," 
he  said,  "  an  unassuming  mission,  supp  >rted  only  by  a  small 
tectioa  of  tin  British  peofJe,  has  beoi  quiedy  and  unostoila- 
tiously,  but  most  successfully  realising  in  its  own  district  the 
entire  programme  of  the  Brussels  Conference.  I  refer  to  the 
Livingstonia  Mission  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  This 
mission  has  proved  itself,  in  every  sense  of  ^he  word,  a  civSidQf 
centre.  By  it  slavery  has  been  stopped,  desolating  wars  put  an 
end  to,  and  peace  and  security  given  to  a  wide  area  of  tiie 
country."  The  Churdi  of  Sccrtland  misnon  at  Kantyre  has 
rendered  similar  service. 

The  considerations  which  we  have  now  reviewed  bring  clearly 
before  us  the  entanglement  of  missions  and  politics,  and  raise 
sonw  vital  questioBS.  Is  tU*  entai^ement  consisteirt  Iht 
aim  of  the  missionary  movement?  Does  it  make  Christ  known 
or  obscure  Him?  Is  it  helpful  to  the  effort  to  make  men  His 
true  disdfdes  and  to  domesticate  tiie  Christian  Church  as  a 
spiritual  force  in  non-Christian  lands?  Is  such  an  entangle- 
:nent  unavoidable?  If  it  is,  are  any  of  its  results  evil?  If 
they  are,  how  can  they  be  limited  in  their  operation?  To  put 
the  questkms  more  ccmcretely,  slMuld  Christians  sedc  to  prmch 
only  what  will  not  create  disturbance  or  upheaval,  heeding  the 
counsel  of  an  article  in  The  Empire  Review  some  years  ago  on 
"  The  State  and  Christian  Missions,'*  in  wh^  nunkioarica 
were  wisdy  wanted  i^akiM  the  anuiivtion  tiiat  tln^  art  jtui^ 


194       CHRISTIANnY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

fied  in  pnadAag  new  and  tmhaSSax  tm&tt  at  all  timet  and 
among  all  people,  without  regard  to  consequences,  and  against 
ignoring  the  sense  of  historical  perspective  or  the  law  of  accom- 
modation to  things  as  they  are  ?  This  ii "  to  forget  tiie  examfde  of 
Christ  and  to  set  the  dianicter  of  His  misMonaries  in  a  light 
in  which  it  will  neither  deserve  nor  command  the  respect  of 
mankind."  More  concretely  still,  are  the  missionaries  to  try 
to  conyert  Mohanmiedans?  If  titey  do  this  in  Mohammedan 
lands  they  will  create  more  disturbance  than  they  will  by  preach- 
ing new  and  unfamiliar  truth  in  Japan?  And  even  if  they 
convert  high-caste  Hindus  in  mission  schools  in  India,  there  will 
be  trouble.  Should  missionaries  avoid  this?  Shall  tbey  ever 
apply  Christianity  to  life  or  merely  preach  it  as  a  personal 
philosophy  or  theory  of  things  as  they  ought  to  be,  not  to  be 
pressed  too  f ar  to  tiw  disturbance  of  things  as  they  are?  Shall 
they  avoid  all  collision  with  native  customs  and  accq>t  in  silence 
all  wrongs  which  they  behold,  including  the  wrongs  done  in  the 
name  of  Christ  or  in  the  name  of  institutions  which  compromise 
Him?  Shan  they  refrain  from  all  politkal  service  of  aiqr  sort 
whatever,  refusing  to  give  help  of  any  kind  to  governments  of 
either  East  or  West?  Shall  they  divorce  missions  absolutely 
from  politics;  that  is,  from  tfie  organised  civil  Hfe  of  man, 
and  obey  the  law  of  accommodation  to  things  as  they  are? 
Doing  otherwise,  will  they  be  forgetting  the  exanqite  <rf  Christ 
and  the  true  character  of  Christianity? 

Ask  the  men  who  ruled  tiie  Jewish  natkm  in  the  day  of 
Christ  how  they  regarded  Him  and  His  doctrine  that  fearless 
Teacher  and  that  piercing  message  which,  as  they  clearly  saw, 
imperilled  all  their  ideals  for  the  nation.  Ask  tiw  Roman  Em- 
perors who  saw  in  die  new  faith  an  imperial  power  which  doomed 
the  ancient  order  and  which  in  due  time  revolutionised  the 
state.  Christianity  was  not,  and  was  never  meant  to  be,  a  nullity, 
a  reafiinnation  of  cxisth^  orders.  It  turned  die  world  t^nda 
down,  and  is  needed  for  the  same  upheaving  transformation 
of  life  to-day.  The  missionary  cannot  be  faithful  to  his  aim 
without  producing  results.  The  very  trouble  whidi  sometimes 
fcHkm  are  a  proof  that  he  has  earnestly  sought  to  attain  his 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


tSm  and  tfMt  tfie  aim  was  good.   If  no  tronUe  fdlowed,  it 

would  be  a  proof  that  the  man  and  his  mission  were  innocuous 
and  unnecessary.  "  So  far  from  the  troubles  in  China  being 
an  argiunent  against  missions,  they  are  distinctly  an  argtunent 
Utr  timn,"  says  tfie  Skvtgkai  Mercury  (At^nst  6,  1900),  w**^ 
is  not  a  missionary  01  ga";  "and,"  it  adds,  "an  overwhelm- 
ingly powerful  argument  The  evils  which  flourish  so  abun- 
dantly among  the  Chinese  people,  and  which  give  opportunity 
to  the  designing,  unscrupulous,  and  greedy  nMndarins,  are  evils 
which  nothing  can  effectively  cure  in  the  absence  of  the  Chrit- 
tian  motive  and  the  Christian  c^h^c." 

There  is  a  coQftt!non  of  missions  witii  pditics  tiwt  b  dis- 
astrous. The  very  relationship  between  the  two,  which  we  have 
seen  to  be  inevitable,  is  fre^hted  with  intricate  problems,  fiut 
an  tiiose  rehtionships  whidi  are  demanded  or  allowed  by  the 
missionary  aim  will  work  out  good,  and  the  perplexities  wfaidl 
they  involve  are  the  unavoidable  perplexities  of  life  and  progress, 
perplexities  which  are  less  and  less  perilous  than  the  opiate 
issues  of  a  rtagnant  and  undisturbed  order.  The  practical  ques- 
tions which  we  face  are  questions  not  of  principle,  bu«  of 
method,  of  judgment  in  the  application  of  principle.  L  U 
such  questions  men  may  err.  Often  we  only  know  by  the  fa<  v  f 
result  whether  the  judgment  was  right  or  not.  But  the  best 
that  we  can  do  is  simply  to  do  the  best  thnt  we  can  And  men 
have  never  gone  far  astray  who  realisec  vhat  the  .tii^sionary 
ahn  was,  and  who,  walking  wttii  durist,  de&:nHned  in  the  guid- 
ing light  of  His  countenance  whi^  it  was  for  iduch  thi^  afaa 
called. 

We  are  told,  however,  that  the  relation  of  missicms  to  politics 
is  a  question  not  of  judgment  in  the  application  of  a  prindpte 
to  conditions,  but  of  principle  itself.  The  missionary  movement, 
it  is  said,  has  no  civil  standing.  The  missionary  is  a  self- 
expatriated  man,  the  dwracter  of  whose  errand  has  deprived 
him  of  political  rights.  His  mission  is  an  intrusion  and  an 
impertinence.  All  other  forms  of  national  intercourse  are  legiti- 
mate, even  the  trade  in  opium  with  China  and  in  dressed  poric 
witii  Tnrkqr,  and  in  Russian  bran^  and  Frendi  wine  iritfi 


196        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

Persia.    It  is  right  to  fight  for  the  extension  or  preservation 
of  such  trade  and  to  instru'-t  consular  agents  to  investigate 
Ae  probable  marketo  for  beer,  for  patent  alcoholic  nwdidnes, 
for  any  reputable  article  of  commerce.    Western  bnrthels  and 
saloons  are  entitled  to  protection,  and  the  commercial  pirate 
must  be  badced  against  the  heathen,  and  the  judge  advocate 
who  thinks  otherwise  must  be  replaced  with  a  man  of  under- 
standing. This  is  the  baser  form  of  the  still  too  common  opinion. 
Others  say  that  the  missionaries  cannot  carry  on  their  work 
without  disturbance,  that  this  disturbance  involves  their  Gov- 
ernment, and  that  neither  the  character  nor  the  results  of  the 
work  warrant  the  trouble  to  which  the  Government  is  put.  The 
Hon.  John  Sherman,  when  Chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee 
on  Foreign  Affairs,  put  this  view  quite  Uuntly  in  a  letter  to 
Professor  A.  D.  G.  Hamlin:  "I  sympathise  with  you  entirely 
in  your  view  of  Turkey,"  he  wrote,  "  and  its  atrocious  persecu- 
tkm  of  Christians,  and  would  be  glad  to  provide  some  suitatde 
remedy;  but  what  can  we  do?   If  our  citisens  go  to  a  ^ 
distant  country,  semi-civilised  and  bitterly  opposed  to  their 
novements,  we  cannot  follow  them  there  and  protect  them." 
-(New  York  Independent.  April  30,  1856.)  Others  who  ncof 
nise  that  a  nation  must  care  for  its  citizens  think  that  the  move- 
ments of  the  missi(M»ries  should  be  politically  limited.   A  Lon- 
don newspaper  set  forth  a  simple  plan  of  this  sort  at  the  time 
of  the  Boxer  troubles.   "  Since  there  is  no  prospect  of  altering 
the  mass  of  Chinese  life,  which  has  varied  little,  if  at  all,  since 
a  time  in  which  Christianity  only  existed  as  implied  in  the 
prophecies,  would  it  not  be  better  to  stop  the  missionary  enter- 
prise altogether?"   This  was  the  way  this  forgotten  writer  of 
a  day  put  his  question  about  a  movement  which  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  cannot  stop.   "  It  would  be  easy  to  do  so,"  he 
flowed  on,  "if  the  Powers  would  «ily  agree.   We  aUow,  of 
course,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  get  them  to  combine  for 
the  purpose,  but  if  any  good  is  to  be  done  a  public  q>ink)n  must 
be  formed,  and  one  can  only  try.   As  for  the  meUiod,  it  it 
easily  defined.  If  it  were  settled,  as  it  easily  might  be,  by  trwty« 
that  no  European  was  allowed  to  enter  Qdaa  witfimrt  &  ptn- 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


197 


port,  and  that  none  should  be  issued  except  to  those  who  gave 
guarantees  that  they  were  engaged  in  commercial  or  industrial 
basinesg  only,  the  trmdiie  would  cease  at  once.  If  any  nttsakm- 
ary  were  to  persist  in  going  up  country,  the  Chinese  authorities 
would  be  entitled  to  arrest  him  and  bring  him  back  to  the  nearest 
treaty  port." — (St.  James  Casette,  September  13,  1900.) 

Still  others  who  think  that  the  missionary  has  a  right  to 
propagate  his  religion  all  over  the  world  believe  that  he  should 
not  appeal  to  what  Dr.  Cust  loved  to  call  "  the  arm  of  the  flesh," 
or  ever  enjoy  tiie  physical  protection  of  his  Government  Urit 
view  was  set  forth  in  the  resolution  of  the  Universal  Peace 
Congress  in  Glasgow  in  1902.  One  of  the  commissions  pre- 
sented the  fdlowing  proposal  adopted  for  submission  to  the 
congress: 

I. — Considering  that  even  if  every  man  has  the  right  to  en- 
deavour to  induce  his  fellow-men  to  share  his  convictions,  he 
who  undertakes  such  a  task  must  expect  opposition,  and  must 
expect  resistance  to  be  particularly  active  when,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  missionaries,  he  undertakes  to  inculcate  in  races  belonging 
to  civilisations  very  different  from  his  own,  ideas  and  convictions 
in  absolute  oppontion  to  tiwirs ;  considering  that  the  missionaries 
face  these  dangers  with  a  perfect  knowl^lge  of  all  that  is  in- 
volved, and  that  they  ought  to  consider  the  opportunity  of  suffer- 
ing for  their  faith  as  among  the  most  glorious  of  their  rewards ; 
considering  that  even  though  homage  may  be  rendered  to  the 
courage  and  sincerity  of  these  men,  it  can  neverthdess  not  be 
admitted  that  the  propaganda  of  their  religious  ideas  should  have, 
even  as  its  indirect  consequence,  the  exposure  of  their  country 
to  the  evils  of  war,  and  the  endangering  of  the  life  of  thousands 
of  their  compatriots  who  do  not  perhi^>s  share  their  convictioos, 
and  are  not  disposed  to  nwke  me  same  sacrifices  \  conriderfaif 
that  even  if  the  civilised  nations  are  under  obligation  to  protect 
such  of  their  subjects  as  may  reside  in  a  foreign  land,  it  is  only 
that  they  themselves  ab!9tain  from  offending  the  prejudices,  or 
attacking  the  ccmvictions  of  the  peoples  whose  hoHHtality  th^ 
receive  \  considering  tiiat  it  is  the  duty  of  niissioiutrict  to  abstain 
from  all  intemperate  zeal,  and  on  the  contrary  to  exercise  the 
tact,  prudence,  and  moderation  which  would  be  suggested  to  them 
both  by  the  precepts  oi  &ctr  rdi^on  mm! 


198        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


The  Congress  is  of  opinion  that  the  Powers  should  rigorously 
abstain  from  all  armed  intervention  intended  to  protect,  succonr 
or  avenge  the  missionaries  of  their  nationality  who  have  volun- 
tarily exposed  themselves  to  the  hostility  or  the  resentment  of 
peoples  of  an  absolutely  different  civilisation. 

II. — Considering  that  in  certain  countries,  and  notably  in  the 
Far  East,  some  subjects  of  the  non-Christian  Powers  who  join 
one  of  the  Christian  Churches  take  advantage  thereof  to  claim 
the  position  of  diplomatic  protection  from  one  of  the  nations 
holdm^  the  Christian  Faith,  and  Him  to  escape  tiie  anthimty 
of  thetr  own  Government; 

Considering  that  the  Christian  nations  cannot  admit  these 
claims  without  injuring  the  sovereign  rights  which  even  non- 
Christian  Powers  have  incontestably  over  their  own  subjects, 
of  whatever  religion  they  may  be,  and  without,  as  a  consequence, 
exposing  themselves  to  the  danger  of  exdtii^  die  Iq^timate 
suscepttbilities  of  these  Powers; 

The  Congress  is  of  opinion  that  the  Christian  nations  should 
strictly  abstain  from  claiming,  or  even  admitting,  their  dipkmiatic 
protection  of  the  subjects  of  the  non-Christian  Powers  v^o  may 
have  joined  either  of  the  Christian  Qmrdiet. 

On  the  basis  of  this  proposal,  the  foUowing  resoltttion  wai 
adopted: 

The  Congress,  recognising  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  country 
to  protect  its  own  dtixens  who  reside  abroad,  and  also  citizens 
of  other  countries  residing  within  its  borders,  while  they  respect 
the  law ;  — i- 

Recognisii^  also  that  homage  should  be  rendered  to  the 
courage  and  sincerity  of  missionaries  who  sacrifice  comfort,  and 
sometnnes  life,  for  the  promotion  of  their  faith;  and  that  every 
man  has  the  r^t  to  emleavotur  to  induce  others  to  diare  his 
convictions ; 

The  Congress  nevertheless  earnestly  recommends  that  mis- 
sionaries should  rigorously  abstain  from  all  action  which  can 
even  indirectly  expose  their  country  to  war;  should  refrain  from 
appealing  to  their  governments  to  avenge  their  wrongs;  and 
^uld  rely  on  the  well-rec(^ised  power  of  disinterested  effort, 
and  not  upon  military  torct,  whidi  must  always  be  a  Uudraaca 
to  their  service. 

Very  true,  but  when  have  missionaries  exposed  their  country 
to  war?  When  have  missionaries  aiq)ealed  to  governments  to 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


199 


aTengc  their  wrongs  ?  When  have  they  sought  to  rely  on  military 
force  ?  Speaking  for  the  Protestant  missions  of  America,  I  do  not 
know.  I  believe  tint  never  in  didr  history  have  tiie  forelpi 
missionaries  sent  out  from  America  exposed  their  country  to 
war,  appealed  to  their  Government  to  avenge  their  wrongs, 
or  sought  to  rely  on  military  force.  The  missionary  organisa- 
tions may  have  asked  their  Government  to  maintain  treaty  righta 
or  to  secure  the  establishment  of  justice  or  to  protect  lives,  but 
never  by  the  use  of  force,  and  always  in  the  interest  of  foreigners 
and  natives  alike  who  suffer  equally  from  injustice  asd  wroof- 
doing.  The  Resolutions  of  the  Glasgow  Peace  Conference  repre- 
sent the  excitement  over  false  issues  into  which  good  people  who 
do  not  know  the  facts  or  who  generalise  from  such  national  sets 
of  facts  as  the  French  and  German  Roman  Catliotic  missions 
present,  too  easily  stir  themselves. 

The  siriple,  practical  questions  are  first:  What  are  the  duties 
of  governments  toward  missionaries?  and,  second:  What  are  ti» 
duties  of  missionaries  with  reference  to  those  duties  of  govera* 
ments  toward  them  which  constitute  their  rights? 

Now,  with  reference  to  the  first  of  these  questions,  there 
have  not  been  wanting  such  statesmen  as  John  Sherman,  wlto 
held  that  the  missionary  had  no  right  to  pditical  protection, 
and  that  his  Government  had  no  such  duty  toward  him,  that 
his  dpeda!  errand  annulled  his  political  rights.  And  when  sudh 
sober  and  responsible  statesmen  l»ve  taken  this  view,  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  other  men  and  newspapers,  which  were 
neither  sober  nor  responsible,  should  look  at  the  matter  in  the 
same  lig^t.  And  among  sober  and  responsible  men  who  coM 
not  take  Mr.  Sherman's  view  there  have  still  been  many  who 
felt  annoyed  at  the  missionary  enterprise,  and  who  wished  that 
governments  mi^  be  spared  tfie  trouUe  occasioned  by  it.  Lord 
Salisbury  said  there  were  some  such  in  tiie  British  Foreign 
Office.  It  was  in  a  speech  at  the  Bi-Centenary  of  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  January  19,  1900,  in  ^hich, 
with  the  sincerity  and  niistkx.>ry  qmqMtiiy  of  a  Christhn  nu^ 
he  dealt  with  this  fundamenta.  problem  of  the  relation  of  mis- 
sions and  politics,  and  recognised  both  the  duty  of 


aoo        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

ments  and  the  great  question  of  duty  which  nuMioiM  had  Id 
het: 

We  owe  to  this  great  Society  our  assistance  not  only  on  accotmt 
Of  those  high  and  generous  motives  to  which  your  president 
app^d,  but  because  the  civilisation  which  it  is  in  a  small  degree 
our  duty  to  serve,  is  not  an  unmixed  blessing  to  this  and  other 
missionary  societies.  We  owe  you  assistance  because  we  are  not 
able  to  avoid  bringing  a  certain  impediment  to  your  work.  I 
do  not  merely  allude  to  the  tiample  which  is  set  by  Christian 
or  so-called  Christian  men  in  other  lands.  They  are  open  to 
great  tonpteHons.  They  have  great  difficulties  to  contend  with. 
It  may  well  be  that  there  the  spectacle  of  what  they  are  doing 
Md  the  lives  they  arc  living  is  not  always  calculated  to  further 
the  work  of  missionary  sodeties.  But  that  is  only  partially  the 
cue.  I  believe  that  over  the  vast  area  of  the  British  Empire 
the  mass  of  those  who  draw  their  origin  and  receive  their  teach- 
ing from  these  shores  are  no  unworthy  members  of  the  rdkiotts 
bodies  to  which  they  belong. 

Yet  we  must  recognise  th«  difficulties  which  it  is  not  in  our 
pcwer  to  avoid  placing  in  the  path  of  missionary  societies.  The 
difficulty  results  not  so  much  from  any  lack  on  our  part  of  desire 
to  assist  them,  but  because  our  very  assistaiKe  carries  with  it 
certam  drawbacks.  We  are  startied  when  we  read  the  history 
of  vast  and  sudden  conversiohs  in  old  time  and  of  the  tremendous 
moral  and  spiritual  power  which  seemed  to  sweep  over  a  race 
or  oyer  a  country  in  obedience  to  the  preachings  of  the  early 
l^sstonanes  of  Chnstianity,  and  we  wonder  wheSier  it  wiU  ev«r 
be  that  phenomena  of  that  striking  character  wiU  take  place  in 
SIJ^^T*"***;  T  recognise  that  the  position  is  en- 
2^^"*  !Sf?"!L       *f  ^""'^^  °^  great  evangelists 

w«it  forth  to  their  work,  exposed  themselves  to  fearful  dansers. 
and  suflFered  all  the  terrors  that  the  worid  could  inflict  in  support 
of  the  doctrines  which  they  preached  and  the  morality  which 
they  practised.  There  was  no  doubt  at  the  samr  time  a  corrupt 
society  calling  itself  by  their  name.  But,  as  your  president  hat 
pointed  out  to  you,  the  means  of  communication  were  not  active, 
and  were  not  as  they  are  now,  and  things  might  go  on  withonif 
attracting  the  attention  of  those  who  ifstened  to  the  teaS 
of  the  cariier  teachers  or  diminishing  the  value  of  their  work! 
Now  things  are  considerably  altered,  and  that  very  increase  in 
the  means  of  communication,  that  very  augmentation  of  the 
power  of  opinion  to  affect  opinion,  and  of  man  to  liieet  man  bv 
the  mere  conquesU  that  wc  have  achieved  in  tlw  atiariil 


MISSIONS  AND  FOUTICS 


mun;  those  very  conquests,  while  undoubtedly  th^  are,  as  the 
Archbishop  said,  an  invitation  for  Providence  to  take  advantage 
of  the  means  of  spreading  the  Gospel,  are  also  a  means  by  which 
the  lives  of  vcmay  and  the  acts  of  many,  which  are  not  wholly 
coasistent  with  me  ideal  which  is  preached  in  tilw  pulpit,  or  read 
in  the  Holy  Book,  are  brought  home  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
vast  nations  which  we  seek  to  address.  That  is  one  of  the  great 
difficulties  with  which  we  have  to  contend,  and  tiat  is  one  n:uoa 
why  this  Society  and  all  missionanr  societies  appeal  with  un- 
doubted force  and  witii  the  ri^ht  to  have  their  appeal  consider^ 
—-that  as  our  civilisation  in  its  measure  tends  to  hamper  mis- 
sionary efforts,  so  in  its  nobler  manifestations  and  its  more 
powerful  efforts  that  civilisation,  represented  by  our  asustance, 
shall  push  forward  to  its  ultimate  victory  tiw  cause  to  ndhich 
you  are  devoted. 

But  this  is  not  the  point  on  which  it  seems  to  me  the  great 
difficulty  of  our  present  time  arises.  If  an  evaiwelist  or  an 
apostle,  a  Boniface  or  a  Columba,  preached  in  eMiddle  Ages 
he  faced  the  difficulties,  he  underwent  the  martyrdom,  and  he 
braved  the  torments  to  which  he  was  exposed,  and  the  whole  of 
the  great  moral  and  spiritual  influence  of  his  self-devotion  acted 
without  hindrance  upon  the  people  whom  he  addressed.  But  now 
if  a  Boniface  or  a  Columba  is  exposed  to  these  martyrdoms  tht 
result  is  an  appeal  to  the  Consul  and  the  mission  of  a  gunboat, 
and,  unfortunately,  though  that  cannot  be  helped,  though  it  is 
a  blame  to  nobody,  though  it  is  far,  indeed,  from  being  a  b'ame 
to  our  devoted  missi(marics,  though  I  cannot  admit  that  it  is 
a  blame  to  the  secular  Goverrnncnt  by  whom  fteir  et^  is  zrti^tA, 
still  it  does  diminish  the  purely  spiritual  aspecr  and  action  of 
Christian  teaching.  It  does  give  to  men  an  opportun*^  and 
a  temptation  to  attach  a  different  meaning  to  that  teaching  and 
to  suspect  it  of  objects  which  are  far,  indeed,  away  frcNii  tiie 
thoughts  of  those  who  urge  it  .  .  . 

Remember  that  in  old  times  if  an  evangelist  gave  himself  up 
to  martyrdom  he  derived  the  crown  for  which  he  looked,  and 
he  did  not  injure  the  cause  that  he  was  prMchiag  or  thcwe  per- 
sons whose  interest  he  rq>resented.  But  now  an>  man  to 
conducts  himself  tfiat  hie  ttti  leads  to  martyrdom,  at  least  incurs 
this  danger— that  he  will  expose  the  lives  of  those  to  whom  he 
is  preaching,  and — what  is  probablv  in  the  material  results  even 
worse — ^that  he  will  cause  the  shedding  of  the  blood  of  his  own 
cotmtrymen,  the  soldiers  and  the  sailors  hy  whom  his  country- 
men  ut  defected,  and  wlw  wiB  be  fo«xcd  for  tiw  sake  of 
Mow-eottatrymen  and  fai  order  to  vnk'  tUB^,  or  p«rhq»  wnm 


aw        CHRISTTANmr  AND  THE  NATIONS 

worse,  outra|:cs  in  the  future,  to  enter  upon  military  and  hostile 
£1^!  order  to  avenge  their  death  and  preJent  the 

rages  being  repeated.    It  is  a  terrible  dilemmi    They  can^t 

mtte  ooninusMon  which  they  have  received.  On  the  other  hand, 
SS?ni      '""^^  ^^V-  ^°       observe  the  utmost 

^JSit^  t  th*^  r«='>«>°n  '^hich  they  desire  to%reach  the  dis- 
o5  fhlt  '^r^  an  instnmient  of  territorial  greed  and  a  weap<m 
of  that  warfare  which  one  secular  Power  w^es  against  another 
I  have  urged  what  is  not  a  pleasant  topic,  bl:auS  I  f edSS  ii 
IS  one  that  ought  to  sink  deep  into  5ie  hearte  of  tS«e  whS 

^nlSn^'^T-J'^^y        ^  in  their  Z^IW^, 

Of  producmg  ternb le  events  on  a  gigantic  scale,  because  thdr 
O0«hon  ,s  closely  mixed  up  with  that  of  the  seculir  Powers,^ 
SSfhu       .r"'!u  «»  "stice  to  their  own  subjecti  we 

^L  FJn-'^  ^  «°  uiiavedged.-(CAJSrjS 

stonary  Intelltgencer,  July,  1900,  pp.  547-5^) 

On  the  question  of  the  missionaries'  relations  to  their  gov- 
ernments. Professor  Coolidge  of  Harvard  University  has  ex- 
pressed m  his  bock  on  "  The  United  States  as  a  World  Power  " 
what  many  would  regard  as  the  toterant  and  large-minded  view 
of  the  uiqmjudiced  man: . 

To  the  diplomat  and  to  the  consul,  unless  they  happen  to 
have  personal  sympathy  with  efforts  to  spread  Christianity,  the 
missionaries  appear  chiefly  to  be  makers  of  endless  trouble. 
Without  passing  a  summary  judgment  on  so  many-sided  a  con- 
JZlTkT.u'^''  urderstand  the  point  of  view  of  those  who 
dec  are  that  the  coming  of  strangers  to  convert  a  people  of  ancient 
cmlisation  from  long-inherited  beliefs  with  whirhthey  are  satis- 
ned,  is  an  impertinence  in  itself;  that  the  missionaries  frequentfy 
lack  tact,  and  by  their  meddlesomeness  get  into  unnecessa^  dii- 
culties,  and  that  what  good  they  have  accompUshed  has  been 
mcommensurate  with  the  money  spent  in  doing  it.  All  this  may 

A»*^nt^*i.?'i™*'i"*  rP''^i"^'"**  observers  bear  witnesJ 
that,  notwithstanding  the  jibes  of  the  foreign  settlements  about 
the  missionaries'  comfortable  mode  of  life,  the  latter  often  set 
unselfishness;  that  they  have  alleviated  much 
suffering,  and  in  n»ny  cases  they  have  done  great  good  to  in- 

Sl^^'iJ!?!,*?  "f  °"^a?  a  whole.  They  have%S>  mo?e 
OMn  once  been  helpful  to  their  own  government,  and  they  havt 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


203 


promoted  civilisation  by  adding  to  our  knowledge  of  the  lands 
where  they  have  worked,  often  at  the  price  of  untold  hardships 
and  perils,  and  sometimes  at  the  cost  of  their  lives.  Finally,  it 
should  be  noted  that  at  the  present  day  the  Protestant  missicmary 
of  the  older  type,  whose  single  idea  was  that  of  preaching  tM 
Gospel  to  the  recalcitrant  heathen  in  season  and  out  of  season, 
If  dying  out.  In  his  place  we  find  the  practical,  efficient  repre- 
sentative of  Christianity,  who  gives  more  time  to  looking  after 
the  material  wants  of  his  flock,  and  in  particular  to  the  cure  of 
their  diseases,  than  he  does  to  direct  propaganda.  .  .  . 

Whatever  may  be  the  personal  opinions  of  the  official  repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States  in  the  Far  East  they  were  obliged 
to  protect  their  missionary  fellow-citizens  in  the  ri^ts  wllldl 
treaties  had  accorded  to  them.  (p.  328  H.) 


Professor  Cbolidge  reo^fnises  the  sxmph  fact  that  tiw  im>- 
sionary  has  a  standing  as  a  citizen,  and  that  where  he  is  at 
work  he  is  at  work  as  a  man;  i.e.,  as  a  man  with  a  country 
whkh  has  authority  over  him  and  responsibility  fo  him.  This 
is  the  fundamental  fact.  The  missionary  is  a  citizen  engaged 
in  a  recognised  and  legitimate  activity,  and  as  such  he  has 
the  right  to  attend  to  his  business  and  his  Government  has  the 
duty  to  protect  him  in  it.  "There  seems  to  be  in  a  ^rt  of 
the  public  press  of  our  country,"  said  Mr.  Foster  at  the  time 
of  the  Chinese  riots  in  1895,  "  a  misconception  of  the  ground 
upon  which  our  Government  bases  its  intervention  on  account 
of  these  riots.  It  is  not  because  we  are  a  Christian  country 
and  ar«!  seeking  to  support  a  Christian  propagandism  in  China.. 
It  is  simply  because  the  people  in  whose  behalf  our  Govem- 
roent  intervenes  are  American  citizens,  pursuu^  a  vocation 
guaranteed  by  treaty  and  permitted  by  Chinese  law.  It  should 
also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Imperial  Government  has  re- 
peatedly recognised  tfie  salutary  influence  of  Christian  missions 
in  their  moral  tendencies,  their  educational  and  medical  work, 
and  their  charities.  The  American  missionary  has  the  same 
right  to  go  into  all  parts  of  the  Chinese  Empire  and  preach 
and  teach  in  the  name  of  his  Master  as  tiw  Amerkan  r.<*rehuit 
has  to  carry  on  his  trade  with  South  America  or  the  Isl^inds  of 
the  Pkdfic,  and  he  has  the  same  ri^t  to  invoke  die  protectioA 


«H        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

of  his  Govenunent  when  his  lawful  vocation  is  unduly  obstructed 
or  Ii»  hfe  or  property  put  in  peril."-(New  York  Sun,  Septan- 
w*"  9.  1895,) 

Any  distinction  between  missionaries  and  other  classes  of 
citizens  IS  unpossible.    Some  have  proposed  that  the  rights 
recognised  in  the  case  of  others  shoald  be  denied  to  nu^sionaries. 
But  It  would  not  be  practicable,  as  the  Spectator  once  remarked, 
to  classify  our  citizens  who  go  abroad  into  "  burnable  "  and  "  un- 
buraaMe,"  to  distinguish  to  the  easy  recognition  of  each  Chinese 
or  Turkish  villager  those  Scotchmen  who  might  with  propriety  be 
murdered  and  their  homes  ravished  from  those  whom  the  British 
Govermnent  was  unwiUing  to  surrender  to  such  treatment.  In- 
deed, If  dtsttnctkms  are  to  be  made,  we  have  some  representatives 
abroad  whose  expulsion  from  the  hmds  where  they  have  gone 
would  be  quite  justifiable,  but  all  who  are  there  in  legitimate 
business  and  on  a  legitimate  basis  must  be  equally  protected  in 
their  rights. 

I  am  not  raising  yet  the  question  whether  a  missionary  should 
have  any  poUUcal  rights,  but  am  only  pointing  out  that  the 
Mrt  IS  that  he  does  have  in  every  land  where  he  is  at  work 
ngbts  already  acknowledged  by  his  Govemmeat.  and  the  Gov- 
emment  under  which  he  works.  Some  of  these  rights  have 
grown  up  from  long  usage,  and  some  of  them  have  been  em- 
bodied in  treaty  stipulatMNis.  In  China  his  work  is  specially 
described  and  authorised.  Article  XIV  of  the  last  Ameriom 
Treaty  (1903)  reads: 

Christian  religion,  as  professed  by  the 
Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  Churches,  are  recognised  J 
teachmg  men  to  do  good  and  to  do  to  others  as  tiSy  would 
have  others  do  to  them.   Those  who  quietly  profess  and  teSh 

S'tK  •'^T^!!**        ~*  ^  or  peJs^uted  on  acoSS 

ot  ttor  faith.  Any  person,  whether  citizen  of  the  United  States 
w  Chinese  convert,  who.  according  to  these  tenets,  peaceably 
teaches  and  practises  the  principles  of  aristianity,  .iJSTnnb 

mm  M  placed  on  Chhwse  joining  Christian  Churches.  Con- 
J«te  and  non-conver*s^  being  Chinese  subjects,  shall  alike  con- 
fonn  to  the  hws  of  China;  and  shaU  pay  due  respect  to  tfaoM 


MISSIONS  AND  FOUTICS 

in  authority,  living  t(»ether  in  peace  and  amity;  and  the  fact 
of  being  converts  shall  not  protect  them  from  nw  consequences 
of  any  offence  they  may  have  committed  bi^are  or  may  onmnit 
after  their  admission  mto  the  Church,  or  exempt  them  from 
paying  legal  taxes  levied  on  Chinese  subjects  generally,  except 
taxes  levied  and  contributions  for  the  support  of  religious  cus- 
toms and  practices  contrary  to  their  faiths  Missionaries  shall 
not  interfere  with  the  exercise  by  tiw  native  authorities  of  their 
jurisdiction  trer  Chinese  subjects;  nor  shall  the  native  authori- 
ties make  any  distinction  between  converts  and  non-converts, 
but  shall  administer  the  laws  wttfioat  pwrtiy^f  lo  tfat  tedi 
classes  can  live  in  peace. 

Missionary  societies  of  the  United  States  d»n  be  permitted 
to  rent  and  to  lease  in  perpetuity,  as  tiie  property  for  such 
societies,  buildings,  or  lands  in  all  parts  of  the  Empire  for 
missionary  purposes,  and,  after  the  title  deeds  have  been  found 
in  order  and  duly  stamped  by  the  local  authorities,  to  erect  such 
suitable  bnildtngi  as  amf  ke  nqnirad  fn*  amykig  on  ttmr  food 
work. 


There  am  be  no  questkm  tfiat  Hht  ausskmary  has  p(ditical 
rights  under  this  treaty.  And  even  in  Turkey  his  presence  and 
work  are  covered  by  elaborate  capitulations  and  international 
agreements.  The  work  of  the  American  missionaries  there,  Mr. 
Bayard  declared  when  Secretary  cf  State,  "rests  on  vuagt 
amounting  from  duration  and  the  incidents  assigned  to  it  by 
law,  to  a  charter."— (DwiGUT,  "Treaty  Ri^ts  of  American 
Missioimries  in  Turicqr.") 

But  there  are  some  who  admit  that  the  missionary  enterprise 
does  have  a  legal  status  who  nevertheless  tliink  that  it  ought 
not  to  have,  and  that  governments  should  disavow  any  re- 
sponsilMlity  for  tiie  protection  of  misrionary  mtnti.  Before 
we  examine  some  of  the  arguments  for  this  view,  it  is  well 
to  observe  that  the  abrogation  of  an  existing  ri^t  does  not 
leave  matters  where  d»y  woidd  be  if  ^  r^  had  never  been 
recognised.  If  ignored  by  governments  from  the  beginning 
the  missionary  enterprise  would  have  made  its  own  place,  and 
that  place  would  not  be  less  influential  than  it  is,  but  its  p(»iti(m 
in  that  case  would  ncrt  be  the  podtioo  into  whidi  h  wooM  faB 
if  an  tilt  Uslorieal  dewlopmint  of  tiw  hsl  MBUny  m  ^IMtig 


CHRISTIANmr  AND  THE  NATIONS 


the  relation  of  missions  and  politics  were  to  be  annulled 
»»y  to  China  and  Turkey  to^y:  "AH  rights  of  missio^ 
are  waived  by  Great  Britain  and  America;  you  can  do  w 
you  please  with  them,"  is  not  to  leave  the  missionaries  wh 
ti^  wouM  be  if  govermnents  had  never  concerned  themsel 
with  them,  and  if  they  had  always  been  and  were  entirely  « 
sociated  from  all  political  relationships. 

And  what  are  the  reasons  proposed  for  such  a  course? 
is  said  that  the  missionary  is  not  like  other  foreigners,  t 
he  is  a  disturber  and  source  of  sedition,  that  the  people  do 
want  him,  but  are  desirous  of  receiving  the  trader,  that  relig 
and  its  activities  are  not,  like  trade,  a  matter  of  govemm 
cognisance.  The  missionary,  thank  God,  is  differoit  from  so 
foreigners,  but  the  difference  between  him  and  other  (tec 
foreigners  is  much  less  than  the  difference  between  the  vari< 
^rpes  <rf  merchants  and  cmsuls  who  go  to  the  non-Christ 
nations.  He  is  a  disturber  of  what  is  evil  and  unjust  in  nat 
customs  and  in  Western  morals,  but  he  is  an  element  of  go< 
will  and  common  understanding  wherever  he  lives.  Opiu 
mm,  didxmest  trade,  higfa-handed  diidomacy,  commercial  pin 
have  made  a  million  times  more  disturbance  and  sedition.  1 
missionary  is  the  most  popula-  foreigner  in  any  land  to  whi 
he  goes.  He  makes  more  frienas  for  himself  and  for  his  nati« 
He  has  never  been  forced  on  one  country  by  war  as  trade  1 
been.    And  the  introduction  of  trade  has  religious  results 
real,  if  not  as  adequate,  as  the  work  of  missionaries.   We  t 
cdve  ourselves  if  we  think  that  we  do  not  faiterfere  with  t 
Eastern  religions  except  through  our  missionaries.   In  the  Ej 
all  life  is  permeated  by  religious  ideas,  and  whatever  touch 
the  Kfe  of  the  Fast  or  of  Africa  at  all  affects  its  religious  co 
ceptions.   The  first  trolley  cars  in  Seoul  were  mobbed  becau 
they  offended  the  deities  and  caused  a  drought.   The  first  ca 
in  Bangkok  were  worshipped  by  multitudes.    All  our  conta 
with  '.he  non-Christian  worid  recognised  as  politically  legitima 
IS  religiously  destructive.   Are  we  to  be  free  only  to  tear  dow 
and  is  the  one  agency  by  which  we  seek  to  replace  what  \ 
•n'  destroying  to  be  outlawed?  Are  w»  to  be  free  to  sprei 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


ao7 


our  diseases  over  tiw  worU,  but  not  to  heal  them ;  to  teach  the 
nati&as  tiwt  tiwir  sriidoin  is  false,  Iwt  not  where  the  true  wisdcmi 
is  to  be  found? 

Waiving  the  missionary  point  of  view  and  regarding  the 
matter  wholly  from  the  side  of  poUtics,  I  believe  that  the  mis- 
sionary enterprise  is  tiw  most  legitimate  utterance  of  the  West 
to  the  East,  and  that  if  governments  have  any  right  whatever 
to  deal  with  other  governments,  they  have  a  right  and  duty 
to  deal  wttii  them  in  behalf  of  the  best  and  most  unselfish 
activities  of  their  people.  The  peo|^  of  the  West  will  never 
take  any  other  view.  The  proposal  to  separate  missionaries 
and  to  delegaUse  their  undertaking  is  wasted  breath.  The  sen- 
timent of  the  Western  people  wffl  always  be  what  it  has  always 
been  since  the  missionary  duty  reached  its  conscience.  Earl 
Granville  expressed  it  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Wade,  the  British 
minister  to  China  in  1871 :  "  It  is  the  duty  of  a  missionary,  as 
of  every  other  British  subject,  to  avcnd  givii^  offence  as  far 
as  possible  to  the  Chinese  authorities  or  people,  but  he  does 
not  forfeit  the  rights  to  which  he  is  entitled  under  the  treaty 
as  a  British  subject  because  of  his  missionary  daracter,"  and 
he  closed  his  letter  with  an  assertion  of  Her  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment's declination  to  supplement  existing  treaties  by  regulations 
designed  to  deal  with  missionaries  alone."  (Correspondence 
respecting  the  Circular  of  die  Ounese  GovtmnmA  of  February 
9,  1871,  relating  to  missionaries.  China,  No.  i,  1872,  pp.  19, 
20.)  The  missionaries  are  citizens  of  their  nations,  and  wher- 
ever they  go  have  the  rights  and  duties  of  such  citizens. 

But  there  remains  the  other  question  as  to  what  missionarici 
should  do  with  their  political  rights.  There  have  not  been 
wanting  missionaries  who  have  held  that  they  should  be  entirely 
waived.  Wihnot  Brooke  and  Alfred  Robfaison  laid  this  down  as 
one  of  their  principles  in  their  short-lived  mission  to  the  Soudan 
twenty  years  ago:  "  As  the  missionaries  enter  the  Moslem  states 
under  the  necessity  of  violating  the  law  of  Islam,  which  forbids 
any  one  to  endeavour  to  turn  Moslems  to  Christ,  they  couM 
not  under  any  circumstances  ask  for  British  intervention  to  ex- 
tricate them  from  the  dangers  which  they  thus  call  down  upoa 


**       CHRISTIANiry  AND  THE  NATIONS 

ttoBMim.  Bat  abo  for  the  saiw  of  the  natives  who  havt 
be  urged  to  bear  the  wrath  of  men  for  Christ's  sake,  it  ia  ■ 
catary  that  the  missionaries  should  themselves  take  the  lead 
hdog  these  dangers,  and  should  in  every  possiUe  way  tt^kt 
dear  to  all  that  they  do  not  desire  to  shelter  themsdves 
British  subjects,  from  the  liabilities  of  perils  which  would  atts 
to  Christian  converts  from  Mohammedanism  in  the  Soudj 
They  win  therefore  voltmtarily  Uy  aside  all  claim  to  protecti 
as  British  subjects,  and  place  themselves,  while  outside  Brili 
territory,  under  the  authority  of  the  native  rulers." 

And  Dr.  M.  H.  Houston,  one  of  the  most  devoted  missk 
anes  in  China,  for  some  years  also  Secretary  of  the  Execnti 
Committee  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
the  United  States  (South),  argued  for  this  principle  in  the  ca 
of  mtssMiiaries  m  China  in  a  paper  on  "  Appeals  for  Redrew 
m  the  Chinese  Recorder  of  February,  1906:  "  ShtnAA  the  Gc 
ernment  of  the  United  States  forbid  its  citizens  to  go  as  in 
skwaries  to  China,  would  we  obey?   Should  this  Govemme 
order  aU  its  citiaens  now  woridng  here  »  missfonaries  to  lea 
the  field,  would  we  de  art?  Not  at  all.   And  now  if  the  mi 
skmary  is  called  to  work  and  to  speak  independenUy  of  the  cii 
-ower,  is  ft  fair,  is  it  just,  when  he  finds  himself  in  distress, 
!  m  the  aid  of  this  power?  And  if  he  considers  hmw 
I  der  the  protection  of  this  power,  and  does  call  on  it  for  ai 
is  he  not  then  bound  in  honour  to  listen  to  its  voice  when 
bkls  hun  restrict  his  movements  in  the  field?  .  .  .  Now,  is 
well  for  a  missionary  to  have  his  movements  restrained' bw 
consul?  If  the  right  to  restrict  be  conceded,  who  can  tell  ho 
far  it  wiO  extend?  And  yet,  if  the  missionary  invoke  consuk 
aid,  is  he  not  bound  in  honour  to  heed  Hat  consdar  -roke?  . 
Now,  suppose  that  every  missionary  in  China  should  resolve  tlu 
henceforth,  under  no  circumstances,  will  he  appeal  to  any  earth) 
government  He  teaches  men  everywhere  to  be  subject  to  tt 
powers  that  be.   He  prays  always  for  kings  and  for  aU  in  at 
thority.    But  he  will  bring  before  them  no  request  for  pr< 
tectkm  or  aid.   If  his  persecutions  are  not  too  great  he  wi 
bear  them.   If  thqr  threaten  too  mnch,  he  wiU  flee.   If  hi 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


property  is  destroyed,  he  will  take  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  his 
goods  in  view  of  hk  hcavcnfy  trc^r^  nd  no  ftptMcntoUoa 

of  the  case  shall  be  made  to  ministers  or  consul.  If  he  is  killed, 
his  comrades  will  bury  him  as  '  devout  men  carried  Stq>hen  to 
his  burial/  and  they  irill  do  no  more."  Such  a  course  of  action. 
Dr.  Houston  argued,  would  enlist  the  synqwdiy  of  '<»f»«iftrtT 
and  statesmen  who  would  be  relieved  of  annoyance  on  account 
of  missionaries,  would  restore  missions  to  their  apostdic  char- 
acter, wouM  have  a  sahitary  effect  tqx»  native  Chrtrtbns,  now 
injured  by  appeals  in  their  behalf  to  the  civil  power,  would 
open  new  doors  of  work  and  access,  and  would  result  in  the 
dropping  of  various  inqwdimenta  now  weighing  on  the  mission 
work  and  in  the  acceirioa  of  mure  heroic  mtsuonarics. 

This  view  is  by  no  means  as  simple  ai  it  appears,  (i)  It 
ignores  the  fact  that  missionaries  are  citizens,  that  they  cannot 
divest  tfaeflndves  of  ttefar  civil  r^jhts  and  duties  by  going  abroad, 
and  that  they  do  owe  a  debt  to  their  own  government  and  are 
bound  at  least  to  consider  consular  advice.  Dr.  Houston  would 
teach  men  everywhere  to  be  subject  to  the  powers  that  be — that 
must  mean,  in  tte  cast  of  tfae  nu^ooary,  a  just  coonderatiaii  <rf 
his  political  duties.  (2)  It  overlooks  the  fact  that  govemnier.ts 
have  duties  which  they  cannot  ignore.  A  government  may  no^ 
permit  injustice  and  contempt  for  treaty  obligation,  however 
willing  its  citizens  may  be  to  accept  such  hardsfaipa.  "  A  cHben 
himself,"  said  Mr.  Taft  in  his  Presidential  message,  December, 
1909,  "cannot  by  contract  or  otherwise  divest  himself  of  the 
right,  nor  can  diis  Government  rape  die  obligatim,  of  his 
protection  in  his  personal  and  pr  ty  rights  when  these  are 
unjustly  infringed  in  a  foreign  c  .ntry."  (3)  The  proposed 
course  imperils  all  foreigners.  The  missionary  is  bound  to  do 
his  duty,  but  he  is  also  to  consider  in  the  determination  of 
his  duty  the  rights  of  others  and  the  effect  of  his  course  of 
action  upon  them.  For  him  to  announce  that  treaty  obligations 
as  they  affect  htm  may  be  overriden  witii  impunity  is  to  create 
a  peril  for  others  whom  he  has  no  right  to  endanger.  (4)  Qti- 
zendiip  abroad  is  no  more  unChristian  than  citizenship  at  home. 
If  it  is  right  for  a  man  to  enjoy  the  protection  and  immunities 


3IO        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


of  good  government  while  in  his  own  land,  it  is  not  wrong  for 
him  to  do  so  in  other  lands.  The  renunciation  of  political  rights 
in  foreign  missionary  work  is  no  more  a  Christian  duty  than 
their  renunciation  in  Christian  work  at  home.  This  view  rests 
on  an  inadequate  conceptio.i  of  the  place  of  the  state  in  the 
divine  organisation  of  society.  It  is  not  by  the  Churdi  alone 
that  God  educates  and  governs  men.  The  family  and  the  state 
are  divine  institutions,  as  well  as  the  Church.  Government  is 
ordained  of  God,  and  it  is  ordained  of  God  to  do  right  and  to 
prevent  wrong.  The  missionary  enterprise  cannot  commit  itself 
to  a  vicious  and  atheistic  theory  of  government.  The  nation  is 
bound  to  fulfil  its  obligations  of  protection  to  every  citizv^n, 
even  tiie  most  unselfish.  (6)  The  course  of  the  apostle  PiiUi, 
ttSuaUy  appealed  to  as  justifying  a  renunciation  by  the  missionary 
of  his  political  rights,  proves  precisely  the  opposite. ''Inside  the 
Roman  Empire  he  again  and  again  made  use  of  his  political 
prerogatives.  Under  the  principle  of  extra-territoriality,  and  it 
is  only  when  that  principle  prevails,  practically,  that  Dr.  Hous- 
ton's problem  arises,  the  missionary  is  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
his  own  government  and  within  its  protection,  just  as  Paul  was 
in  the  Roman  Empire,  and  if  he  avails  himself  of  that  protection, 
is  doing  just  what  Paul  did.  And  in  other  lands  a  missionary 
does  not  do  otherwise  than  we  believe  Paul  would  do  to-day, 
when  he  remembers  his  nationality  and  the  rights  and  duties 
which  it  involves.  (7)  A  man  cannot  in  this  way  expatriate  him- 
self and  become  a  nationless  man.  It  is  not  Christian  that  he 
should.  He  has  a  land  and  a  flag  which  demand  an  allegiance  of 
htm  and  hold  their  privilege  over  him.  (8)  And  lasdy,  the  mis- 
sionary aim  does  not  require  of  the  men  who  seek  to  realise  it 
that  they  should  be  men  without  a  country.  It  only  requires 
that  they  should  use  their  nationality  and  all  that  it  involves 
in  such  a  way  as  to  advance  and  not  to  retard  the  reali- 
sation of  their  aim.  In  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of 
political  rights  there  is  nothing  essentially  inconsistent  with 
this  aim. 

But  if  v/e  cannot  accept  the  piinciple  that  missionaries  should 
waive  all  political  rights,  a  principle  which  is  inq>ossiUe  becMtst 


MISSIONS  AND  FOUTICS  an 

whatever  missionaries  might  propose  they  are  citizens  still  and 
cannot  escape  their  civil  responsibilities,  we  cannot,  on  the  other 
hand,  accept  the  view  tiiat  the  possession  of  rights  necessitates 
or  justifies  their  exercise  to  the  full  limit  As  Woolsey  says 
in  his  "  Political  Science,"  "  Rights  may  be  waived.  The  very 
nature  of  a  right  impUes  that  the  subject  of  it  decides  whether 
he  shall  exercise  it  ormrt  <n  a  partictilar  case."  Here  at  bmw 
no  Christian  thinks  of  demanding  all  his  rights.  The  mark  of 
a  Christian  is  the  renunciation  of  rights.  This  was  the  principle 
of  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  Who,  though  He  was  on 
an  equality  with  God,  counted  not  His  right  of  equality  as  a 
thing  to  be  retained,  but  emptied  Himself  and  took  on  Him  the 
form  of  a  servant  On  this  same  principle  the  missionary  enter- 
prise proceeds.  "  It  is  dangerous  for  us,"  writes  Dr.  J<An  Ross 
of  Manchuria,  "  to  demand  always  what  we  call  '  treaty  rights ' 
—rights  under  treaties  extorted  from  China.  Better  to  quietly 
endure  many  a  wrong  than  assist  by  ever  claiming  our  '  rights ' 
to  deepen  the  sense  of  irritation  given  by  our  presmce  in  Chtuu 
Where  and  when  that  endurance  Aouid  end  must  be  teft  to 
individual  conscience." 

And  yet  not  entirely  so,  for  the  determining  element  in  the 
decision  must  be  the  missionary  aim.  Missimiaries  are  dtiient 
and  have  certain  rights  and  duties,  and  the  way  they  will  act 
will  be  governed,  not  by  their  personal  interest,  but  by  the 
dominating  aim  of  tiidr  lives  and  of  dieir  enterprise.  The 
missionary  movement  insists  on  the  legitimacy  of  its  character, 
on  the  full  responsibility  of  governments  toward  all  their  citi- 
zens, on  the  possession  by  missionaries  of  full  civil  privilq^es, 
and  on  the  principle  of  self-renuiKiation  in  aU  who  are  con- 
cerned in  the  movement,  by  which  all  rights  arc  viewed  in  their 
relation  to  the  mission  aim,  and  are  waived  or  exercised  as  the 
interests  of  that  aim  require.  What  will  best  tend  to  make 
Christ  known?  What  will  contribute  most  to  the  develofmient 
of  an  indigenous  Church  ?  What  will  soonest  make  a  home  for 
Christianity  in  the  national  life?  These  are  the  questions  which 
must  be  asked.  They  are  not  ctsy  to  aniwer,  but  it  U  fodiah 
to  think  feat  the  proMem  can  be  lettied  hy  torn  tingle  kpHttte 


212        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


rule.  Mistakes  will  be  made  in  trying  to  answer  these  questions, 
but  God  will  overrule  these,  and  an  honest  effort  to  apply  the 
principles  involved  in  tiie  aim  of  missicms  will  carry  us  further 
toward  the  goal  than  dw  adoptioii  of  any  arbitrary  and  un- 
warrantable stacute. 

It  is  questioned  by  some  whether  the  aim  of  missions  is 
inconsistent  with  demands  for  ptmishnwnt,  with  requests  for  in- 
demnity, with  appeals  for  military  iot^rference  or  support,  with 
all  use  of  physical  force.  It  is  clear  to  some  that  it  is  right  for 
a  man  to  tell  his  government  such  facts  as  it  should  know  in 
order  to  determine  its  duty.  Hie  presumption  is  certainly  agatnrt 
all  the  other  things,  but  men  must  judge  each  case  alone,  and  it 
is  safer  that  they  should  not  be  alone  in  judging  it.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  an  insignificantly  small  number  of  missionaries  have 
ever  done  anything  of  the  sort  or  nmde  any  representation  of 
any  kind,  either  to  their  own  consuls  or  to  native  officials.  "  The 
Principles  and  Practice  '  of  the  China  Inland  Mission  expresses 
tiie  actual  practice  and  the  accepted  principles  of  all  missionaries : 
"  Too  great  caution  cannot  be  exercised  by  all  missionaries  resid- 
ing or  journeying  inland  to  avoid  difficulties  and  complications 
with  the  people,  and  especially  with  the  authorities.  Every  mem- 
ber of  the  mission  must  understand  that  he  goes  out  depending 
for  help  and  protection  or.  the  living  God,  and  not  relying  on  an 
arm  of  fles     Appeals  to  consuls  or  to  Chinese  officials  to  procure 
the  punishment  of  offenders,  or  to  demand  the  vindication  of  real 
or  supposed  r^[lits,  or  for  indemnification  for  hMses,  are  to  be 
av(rf(ted.   Should  trouble  or  persecution  arise  inland,  a  friendly 
representation  may  be  made  to  the  local  Ch5:5--e  officials.  .  .  . 
Under  no  circumstances  may  any  missionary  o.n  his  own  responsi- 
Ulity  make  any  written  »pptiti  to  the  British  or  otfwr  fenign 
authorities.  .  .  .  Great  respect  must  be  shown  to  all  in  author- 
ity, and  must  also  be  manifest  in  speaking  of  them,  a:  Is  required 
by  the  Word  of  God.  Where  prolonged  stay  in  a  city  is  likely 
to  eattte  tnmUe,  it  is  better  to  journey  onward,  and  where  resi- 
dence cannot  be  peaceably  and  safely  effected  to  retire  and  give 
up  or  defer  the  attempt.  .  .  .  God  will  open  more  doors  than 
wt  can  mt«r  tad  occupy.  In  coodutkm,  the  weapons  of  oar 


MISSIONS  AND  POUTICS  aij 


warfare  mutt  be  pnctiadly  fwogmwd  a*  qnritial  and  not 

carnal." 

There  remain,  however,  three  great  questions  which  are  not 
covered  by  such  a  general  statement.  The  first  is  the  question 
of  the  exercise  by  missionaries  of  the  right  of  extra-territori- 
ality,  the  second  is  the  question  of  the  protection  of  native  coa- 
verts,  and  die  third  the  vital  question  of  die  effect  upon  the 
purity  and  vitality  of  the  mission  movemeat  of  its  coaftudon 
with  politics  and  Western  civilisation. 

A  recent  writer  in  one  of  our  best  known  reviews,  Mr. 
Richard  Wei?  litnum,  in  the  North  American  Review,  has  raised 
a  question  which  is  phrased  also  in  an  editorial  in  the  Washing- 
ton Post  (June  24,  1906),  on  which  Mr.  Weightman  is  an  edi- 
torial writer,  "  Whether  we  can  reasonably  expect  to  establish 
in  China  .»nd  Turit^  tiiat  basb  of  good-will  and  sympatiby  vpoa 
which  alone  a  permanent  and  profitable  commerce  may  be 
founded,  so  lOng  as  our  Government  identifies  itself  officially 
with  the  missionary  propaganda."  This  identi&aittoa  coosista 
in  the  extension  of  the  rights  of  extra-territoriality  to  mission- 
aries. A  writer  in  the  Fortnightly  RcAew  has  taken  up  the 
same  question  in  an  article  on  "  Christianity  in  China."  "  The 
situation,"  he  says,  "  is  sunnned  tq>  in  the  phrase  '  extra-tmi- 
toriality,'  and  it  may  safely  be  sakl  that  no  religion  was  v  er 
presented  to  a  people  under  sudi  peculiar  conditions."  "  The 
legal  status  of  European  missioaaries,"  he  adds,  "  has  been 
of  superiority  to  the  laws  of  the  country  whose  hospitality  they 
have  enjoyed  and  whose  ancient  customs  they  have  attacked 
not  infrequently  with  imprudence.  It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell 
on  the  mistakes  of  hidividttals,  since  it  is  eridttnt  that  the  whole 
position  was  one  which  oould  not  fail  to  rouse  the  deepest  resent- 
ment in  a  people  so  proud  as  the  Chinese."  The  editorial  in 
the  Post  declares :  "  What  the  nation  really  wants  of  die  so- 
called  pafans  is  dwir  tnule,  and  hiddentally  their  money,  and 
it  is  now  very  clear  that  in  order  to  attain  that  consummation 
we  shall  have  to  treat  them  decendy.  and  at  least  with  common 
consideration,  whether  we  feel  it  or  not  .  .  .  It  it  <pdte  evi- 
dent that  we  cannot  tvaageliae  and  sell  our  gooda  to  tlMa  at 


ai4        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


the  same  time.  We  have  to  take  one  way  or  the  other,  and 
that  without  much  procrastination."  All  of  which  is  merely 
a  good  illustration  of  the  absurd  ignorance  of  facts  and  of  life 
on  the  part  of  newspaper  writers.  A  good  part  of  our  trade 
with  China  we  owe  to  missionary  work,  and  the  American 
people  have  larger  and  more  genuine  interest  in  China  than  is 
credited  to  them  by  the  Washington  Post.  The  particular  sug- 
gestion of  the  two  review  writers  is  not  much  more  sensible. 
The  exemption  of  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  Christian  nations 
fran  the  jurisdiction  of  Turkey,  Persia,  Tibet,  China,  and 
Siam,  and  formerly  of  Japan  also,  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
these  countries  had,  and  in  the  case  of  the  first  four  have  now, 
neither  "  the  restraints  of  a  constitution  nor  an  orderly  adminis- 
tration of  justice  and  law."  The  conditions  in  these  lands  maltt 
it  impossible  to  subject  foreigners  to  their  jup.adiction.  There 
are  no  true  courts,  no  suitable  prisons,  no  lair  codes  of  law, 
no  provision  for  the  just  trial  of  offences.  There  are  bribery, 
oppression,  absolutism,  injustice,  which  it  is  shameful  enough 
that  their  own  people  must  endure.  The  Christian  nations  have 
always  refused  to  hand  over  their  subjects  to  such  iniquities. 
It  is  true  that  tiie  nations  have  been  restive  under  the  system, 
but  the  remedy  is  in  their  own  hands.  When  Japan  had  re- 
formed her  courts,  her  prisons,  and  her  codes,  the  Christian 
nations  surrendered  the  rights  they  had  reserved.  They  will 
gladly  c  the  same  with  the  other  nations  when  they  have  been 
duly  reformed.  Meanwhile,  the  Western  nations  can  no  more 
separate  missionaries  from  other  foreigners  in  China  than  they 
can  in  Japan  or  in  Africa,  although  the  missionaries  are  the  last 
foreigners  to  be  likely  to  fall  into  Chinese  courts  and  prisons 
and  to  need  the  protection  of  their  governments  for  crimes 
against  Chinese  laws.  The  Chinese  Government  in  1871  desired 
a  withdrawal  from  the  missionaries  of  tiie  right  of  extra-terri- 
toriality  when  they  went  beyond  the  places  open  to  trade  where 
foreign  consuls  resided.  The  American  Minister,  Mr.  Low, 
wrote  to  his  CSovemment  disapproving  any  acticm  by  it  consent- 
il^  to  the  Chinese  suggestions.  "  Neither  will  sound  policy," 
he  wrote,  "  nor  the  moral  and  religious  sentiments  of  Christian 


MISSIONS  AND  FOUTICS 


a»5 


nations,  sanction  any  retrc^ession,  although  trade  and  commerce 
mi^^t  be  promoted  titereby;  nor  will  the  dictates  of  humanity 
permit  the  renunciation  of  the  right  for  all  foreigners  that  they 
shall  be  governed  and  punished  by  their  own  laws." — (Letter, 
Frederick  J.  Low  to  Mr.  Fish,  March  20,  1871.)  The  Amer- 
ican Government  replied  to  Mr.  Low  that  the  idea  of  curtailing 
the  rights  of  the  missionarin  "cannot  be  entertained  for  one 
moment  by  the  United  States." — (Letter,  J.  C.  B.  Davis  to  Mr. 
Low,  October  19,  1871.)  The  right  of  jurisdiction  on  the  part 
of  a  Christian  nation  over  one  class  of  its  citizens  in  China  and 
Turkey  and  Persia  cannot  be  waived;  it  is  neither  right  nor 
possible  to  waive  it,  until  it  is  waived  for  all.  And  neither  the 
individual  missionary  nor  the  enterprise  can  repudiate  the  right 
and  duty  of  a  Western  government  to  such  jurisdiction.  This, 
however,  may  be  safely  said,  tiiat  the  missionary  will  be  the 
first  Westerner  to  be  willing  to  relinquish  his  extra-territorial 
rights  and  to  pass  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  reformed  China 
or  Turkey  or  Persia.  As  Dr.  Verbeck  was  the  first  to  seek 
in  Japan,  as  he,  a  man  without  a  nationality,  could  do,  the  pro* 
tection  of  Japanese  law,  before  the  new  treaties  surraMteriog 
the  system  of  extra-territoriality  had  gone  into  effect,  so  now 
in  Siam  and  everywhere  the  missionaries  will  be  the  first  to 
welcome,  as  they  have  been  the  most  ardent  to  desire,  the  full 
assumption  by  the  Asiatic  nations  of  the  sovereignty  of  equal 
states. 

That  the  missionary  is  politically  an  alien  is  not  a  wrong 
thing  in  itself,  and  it  is  not  detrimental  to  his  mission.  He  is 
not  and  cannot  be  other  than  what  he  is — a  man  of  his  own 
nationality.  To  remam  such  does  not  prejudice  his  success.  Hi* 
business  is  not  to  merge  separate  races  or  natioralities,  but  to 
give  his  burden  to  a  body  of  men  within  the  nation  to  which 
he  has  come.  If  his  spirit  is  the  spirit  of  love,  his  fore^  im* 
tionality  ought  to  make  it  easier  for  him  to  build  up  an  in- 
dependent, national  consciousness  and  sense  of  autonomy  ia  the 
Church  which  it  is  his  aim  to  found. 

The  second  and  nore  difficult  problem  is  the  problem  of  the 
protectim*  nf  rrtive  Christians  from  pcrsecutioB  or  pwnishnwnt 


ai6        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


on  the  ground  of  their  Christianity.  No  one  has  ever  argued 
that  Christian  nations  should  interfere  on  behalf  of  native  Chris- 
tians to  save  them  from  the  consequences  of  evil  doing,  but 
the  question  has  long  been  before  men  as  to  the  duties  of  Chris- 
tian  nations  toward  native  Christians  when  their  sole  offence 
was  their  Christian  faith,  or  when  their  faith  was  made  the 
basis  of  partial  treatment  or  discriminaticm. 

In  China  the  question  has  been  for  a  century  a  living  question. 
When  Robert  Morrison  began  his  work,  foreign  intercourse  and 
tne  foreign  religion  were  illicit  things,  and  although  the  Opium 
War  opened  certain  points  both  to  merchant  and  missionary, 
foreigners  of  all  kinds  were  forbidden  to  enter  the  country 
beyond  the  limits  specified,  and  the  religion  which  the  foreigners 
broo^t  was  subject  to  the  national  dislike  of  all  that  was  for- 
eign. It  was  felt  by  S.  Wells  Williams,  accordingly,  and  by 
the  other  Christian  men  who  were  associated  with  the  nego- 
tiators of  the  treaties  with  Chma  after  the  Arrow  War,  that 
it  would  be  a  right  and  wise  thing  to  secure  for  Christianity 
an  explicit  toleration  in  the  new  treaties,  and  to  include  under 
their  toleration  not  the  foreign  teachers  of  Christianity  alone, 
bat  also  the  natives  of  China  who  might  accept  it  and  seek 
to  propagate  it  The  toleration  clause  in  the  American  treaty 
of  i860  was  as  follows : 

"The  principles  of  the  Christian  religion,  as  professed  by 
the  Protestant  and  Rmnan  Catholic  Churches,  are  recognised 
as  teaching  men  to  do  good,  and  to  ^  to  others  as  they  would 
have  others  do  to  them.  Hereafter,  those  who  quietly  profess 
and  teach  these  doctrines  shall  not  be  harassed  or  perst 
cuted  on  account  of  their  faith.  Any  person,  whether  citi- 
zen of  the  United  States  or  Chinese  convert,  who  according 
to  these  tenets  peaceably  teaches  and  practises  the  prin- 
cifits  of  Christianity,  shall  in  no  case  be  interfei  ..<l  with  or 
molested." 

This  clause  was  not  extorted  from  the  Chinese  commission- 
ers or  forced  upon  them.  Dr.  Williams  wrote  in  New  Haven, 
in  1878,  a  clear  and  authoritative  statement  of  how  he  came 
to  draft  tiie  article  and  the  Otinese  to  accept  it: 


MISSIONS  AND  POUTICS 


As  the  matter  of  the  "  Tcleration  Clauses  "  in  the  treaties 
of  i8^  has  become  one  of  general  interest  in  the  mission  body 
of  Ouna,  I  r^ret  diat  tiie  statement  concerning  it  in  the  report 
of  the  [first  missionary]  Shanghai  Conference  should  not  have 
been  more  accurate.  The  toleration  of  Christianity  was  not 
brought  forward  by  the  Chinese  commissioners  in  any  shape, 
for  it  was  a  jwint  upcm  whidi  they  were  wholly  ignorant  as  a 
religious  question.  The  Russian  Mmister  was  the  first  to  formu- 
late an  article  on  this  subject,  and  in  the  discussion  which  ensued 
as  to  his  draft  of  a  treaty  presented  to  the  Chinese  officials,  they 
are  said  to  have  expressed  their  willingness  to  allow  missionaries 
to  travel  through  the  country,  inasmuch  as  these  could  usually 
speak  the  language ;  they  opposed  a  like  permission  to  merchants, 
who  could  not  do  so,  as  this  ignorance  was  sure  to  breed 
trouble.  These  officials  knew  the  Russian  priests  in  Peking  to 
be  quiet,  industrious  men,  and  were  doubtless  willing  enough  to 
admit  them  to  further  privileges,  but  they  could  give  no  opmion 
on  tiie  general  toleration  of  Christianity,  for  they  knew  prac- 
tically nothing  of  its  peculiar  tenets. 

The  next  day  I  got  the  Chinese  text  of  this  article  and  drew 
up  a  similar  one  for  the  United  States  treaty,  leaving  out  the 
proviso  that  a  "certain  number  of  missionaries"  would  be 
allowed,  and  inserting  the  two  names  of  Protestant  and  Roman 
Catholic  Churches,  so  as  to  bring  the  former  distinctly  before 
them  as  not  the  same  as  the  Roman  and  Greek  Qiurches;  it 
was  otherwise  different  in  phraseology  tmt  not  fat  spirit  Thie 
night  before  the  treaty  was  signed,  a  note  was  sent  from  the 
Chinese,  rejecting  this  article  altogether,  on  the  ground  that 
Protestant  missionaries  had  their  families  with  them,  and  must 
be  restricted  to  the  open  ports ;  the  inference  was  therefore  pretty 
,  iiin  that  the  novelty  of  foreign  women  travelling  about  tibe 
untry  had  presented  itself  to  their  minds  as  an  objection  to 
owing  Americans  to  preach  Christianity.  As  soon  as  I  could 
do  so  I  drew  up  another  form  of  the  same  article,  and  started 
off  next  morning  to  lay  it  before  the  Imperial  Commissioners. 
It  was  quite  the  same  article  as  before,  but  they  accepted  it 
without  anv  further  discussion  or  alteration ;  however,  the  word 
"  whoever  "  in  my  English  version  was  altered  by  Mr.  Reed  to 
"any  person,  whether  citizen  of  the  United  States  or  Chmese 
convert,  who" — because  he  wished  every  part  of  the  treaty  to 
refer  to  United  States  citixeas,  and  cared  not  very  much  whether 
it  had  a  toleraticm  article  or  not.  I  did  care,  and  was  thankful 
to  God  tiiat  it  was  inserted.  It  is  the  only  treaty  in  existence 
wh^  conttias  the  ro]f«l  bw.  T  htrr  ■Imiji  rimninl  thn  prgitnt 


ai8        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

article  as  better  than  the  discarded  one;  that  in  the  British 
treaty  was  abridged  from  it,  and  I  understood  at  the  time  that 
it  would  not  have  been  inserted  if  ours  had  not  contained  such 
a  clause.  It  must  be  said,  moreover,  that  if  the  Chinese  had 
at  all  comprehended  what  was  involved  in  tiiese  four  toleratioii 
articles,  they  would  never  have  signed  one  of  them.  In  the 
"  Chinese  Repository  "  you  will  find  a  partial  toleration  of  our 
religion  by  the  Emperor  Taokwang,  but  this  was  only  a  rescript 
and  did  not  carry  with  it  the  weight  of  a  treaty,  and  during 
the  fourteen  years  which  had  intervened  since  its  promulgation 
it  had  pretty  much  lost  its  effect. 

I  could  never  ascertain  who  had  a  hand  in  causing  the  rejec- 
tion of  my  first  form  of  the  article,  but  think  that  it  was  some 
one  connected  with  the  French  legation.  The  harsh  and  unjust 
criticisms  of  some  persons  on  these  articles  in  i860  was  only 
the  beginning  of  the  pulling  and  hauling  thtv  have  since  received ; 
but  it  is  much  easier  to  find  fault  and  overthrow  than  to  improve 
and  build  up.  Though  Christianity  does  not  depend  upon  treaties 
for  its  progress  and  power,  these  articles  have  proved  to  be  a 
check  upon  tfie  native  officials,  who  have  been  taught  therein 
not  to  destroy  what  they  did  not  approve.  I  thank  God  that 
the  Imperial  Government  was  thereby  bound  not  to  become  a 
persectiting  government,  as  it  has  more  than  once  nact  wislwd 
to  be. 

Williams  never  regretted  his  action  in  the  matter.  Twenty 
years  after  the  adoption  of  the  treaties  he  wrote : 

The  articles  in  the  treaties  with  China  granting  toleration 
to  tiiose  who  preach  and  those  who  accept  the  doctrines  of  the 
Bible,  and  allowmg  the  public  exercise  of  their  faith,  have  already 
proved  to  be  a  great  protection  to  the  growing  Church.  It  is 
<me  of  those  milestones  of  progress  ^ich  indicate  the  advance 
mde,  and  guide  that  advance  further  on  to  the  consummation 
of  the  Chnstianisation  of  the  whole  land.  The  difficulty  of  con- 
vmcmg  the  converts  that  the  degree  of  toleratim  granted  does 
not  release  them  from  their  allegiance  to  their  own  rulers,  has 
been  increased  of  late  years  by  a  kind  of  semi-protection  claimed 
by  Roman  Catholic  priests  to  appear  before  the  rulers  in  cases 
of  oppression  of  their  neophytes.  There  is,  indeed,  no  caste 
to  warn  people  off  from  its  peculiar  enclosure  nor  state  hier- 
arch^r  or  bigoted  priesthood  to  forcibly  prevent  members  from 
leaving  it,  but  hmdrances  to  the  promulgation  of  the  Gospel  are 
to  be  expected  as  tiie  rwovating,  reoifanising  nature  of  its 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


aid 


doctrines  are  better  understood,  and  the  rights  of  conscience 
are  more  strongly  asserted.  It  is  a  cause  of  great  thankfulness 
that  the  progress  of  the  faith  has  been  attended  with  so  few 
drawbacks,  persecutions,  and  causes  of  just  complaint  from 
either  party.  Three  Protestant  converts  have  already  yielded 
up  their  lives  rather  than  deny  their  Master;  and  others  have 
suffered  the  loss  of  all  things  at  the  hands  of  their  countrymen. 
The  reputation  of  these  converts  has  generally  been  good  as 
members  of  society.  I  was  once  talking  with  Wansiang,  the 
premier,  respecting  them,  and  told  him  that  I  had  never  known 
of  a  member  of  the  Yesu  kiao  having  been  condemned  before  the 
native  courts  for  any  crime,  and  he  said  he  had  not  heard  of  a 
case. 

No  aspect  of  missicmary  wotic  in  Oiina,  however,  has  called 

forth  more  discussion  and  criticism  from  friend  and  foe  of 
mission  work.  Foes  have  asserted  that  on  the  basis  of  this 
clause  missionaries  have  removed  native  Christians  from  the 
jurisdicticm  of  Chinese  courts,  all  offences  of  such  Christiaiis 
being  covered  by  the  allegation  of  persecution.  "  Suppose,"  says 
Sir  ram  Maxim,  a  zealous  antagonist  of  missions,  "  a  Chinese 
pr  .jonld  visit  England  and  the  United  States,  and  it  shookl 
bet.^  le  known  that  every  burglar,  pickpocket,  and  thief  could, 
by  becoming  a  Buddhist,  shield  himself  from  arrest  by  the  police, 
how  long  would  the  English  or  American  people  submit  to  such 
a  state  of  aflburs  ?"—(i/or^*r'*  Weekly,  Sept«nber  i6*  1905.) 
Friends  of  missions  have  spoken  carefully,  but  strongly  on  the 
subject.  The  Congr^tional  deputation  to  China,  in  its  special 
report  on  China  to  the  Prudential  Committee  of  the  American 
B<Mrd  in  1907,  declares  its  conviction  that  the  toleratkm  clause 
was  unwise  and  injurious  in  its  effect  It  says : 

The  treaties  between  China  and  the  Western  nations  gave 
a  degree  of  foreim  protection  to  Chinese  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity. This  estaUished  a  state  of  ftings  unlike  that  prevailing 
in  any  other  country  which  has  been  the  field  of  foreign  mis- 
sionary endeavour.  It  is  now  generallv  conceded  that  this  clause 
in  the  treaties  was  wholly  unwise,  and  in  the  end  has  been  most 
injurious  to  the  progress  of  Christianity  in  China.  It  has  thrown 

Seat  tonptation  in  the  way  of  tiw  missioaarics  and  of  tiw 
linese  peofte  titemsdves.  It  has  led  the  latter,  in  some  ota^ 


aao        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


to  pretend  conversicn  for  the  sake  of  peratmal  advantage.  The 
flUfl^onary  on  his  part  las  been  fed  to  confuse  his  office  as  a 
teacher  of  religion  with  that  of  the  representative  of  a  foreign 
pohtical  power.  It  has  led  to  constant  deception  on  the  part 
of  the  Chinese  and  to  repeated  interventions  on  the  part  of 
missionaries  between  the  Chinese  Government  and  its  lawful 
subjects.  It  has  been  talnn  advantage  of  by  foreign  powers  in 
Uie  most  flagrant  fashion  for  the  furthering  of  their  schemes 
for  territorial  aggrandisement.  It  is  a  just  cause  of  constant 
and  increasing  irritation  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  Government 
and  people  toward  the  missionaries.  It  has  caused  an  endeavour 
which  should  have  no  aim  but  tiie  teaching  of  pure  religion  to 
be  confounded  in  the  minds  of  many  Chinese  with  the  political 
schemes  of  the  so-called  Christian  nations.  It  is  at  present  by 
far  the  greatest  ground  of  reproach  in  China  against  Christtan 
missionaries. 

In  this  reject,  the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  iiave  been 
the  greatest  offenders.  France,  until  the  recent  disestablishment 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  that  country,  has  been  the 
nation  most  active  in  the  protection  of  Chinese  converts.  A 
statemait  isMied  in  the  late  spring  of  this  year  by  the  Governor- 
General  of  P^ing  and  others  high  in  authority,  over  their  own 
signature,  confirms  this  assertion  with  the  greatest  definiteness. 
But  it  IS  deplorable  that  Protestant  missionaries  ever  permitted 
themselves  to  be  led  into  a  like  error.  The  way  was  thus  opoMd 
for  the  mterpretation  of  any  lawsuit  of  which  a  Chinese  Chris- 
tian might  be  a  party  in  the  light  of  a  case  of  religious  persecu- 
tion. It  IS  true  that  a  great  majority  of  our  missionaries  dis- 
countenance this  practice.  The  sentiment  prevails  throughout 
our  missions  that  it  is  high  time  that  intervention  of  any  sort 
on  the  part  of  missionaries  in  cases  involving  the  relations  of 
Chinese  subjects  to  the  court  or  to  their  government  should  be 
altogether  duomtiaaed. 

Some  of  the  best  missionaries  in  China,  while  seeing  clearly 

the  abuses  and  misunderstandings  which  have  grown  up,  are 
not  clear  that  the  assertion  by  treaty  of  the  principle  of 
♦nleratiwi  was  wholly  unwise  and  injurious.  Dr.  Gibson  has 
dealt  carefully  with  the  subject  in  "Missioa  Problems  aiid 
Mission  Methods  in  South  <>«^m  ": 

In  the  teeaties  agreed  to  between  China  and  Western  powers, 
oistmct  reference  was  made  to  the  subject  of  Christtan^,  and 


MISSIONS  AND  POUTICS 


it  was  provided  that  under  these  treaties  there  shotild  be  com- 
plete freedom  for  the  propagation  or  practice  of  Christianity, 
both  on  the  part  of  natives  and  foreigners.  This  provision,  as 
well  as  the  natural  attitude  always  maintained  by  the  Chineee 
Government  towards  differing  religions,  has  secured  for  us  mar- 
vellous freedom  in  preaching  Christianity  in  all  parts  of  China; 
and  not  only  in  the  treaty  ports,  where  foreign  residence  is 
sanctioned,  but  in  all  the  cities,  towns,  and  country  districts  of 
the  Empire,  native  preadiers  and  foreign  missionaries  alike  have 
complete  freedom  in  preaching  the  Gospel  and  gathering  Chris- 
tian worshippers;  a  freedom,  perhaps,  which  is  more  complete 
than  that  wnich  is  enjoyed  in  any  other  part  of  the  globe.  Now 
it  is  under  such  conditions  as  these  I  have  described  that  the 
Christian  reli^on  has  been  preached  and  the  Christian  Church 
planted  in  China,  and  many  complicated  results  have  grown  out 
of  this  situation. 

The  toleration  clause  of  the  treaties  runs  as  follows :  "  The 
religions  of  tiw  Lord  of  heav  a  and  of  Jesus  teach  men  to 
practise  virtue,  and  to  do  to  others  as  men  would  be  done  by, 
and  all  persons  shall  be  free  to  preach  and  practise  these  religions 
without  molestation  or  interference."  "  his  seems  to  secure  the 
right,  on  the  one  hand,  of  missionaries  to  preach  Christianity, 
and  the  right,  on  the  other,  of  CIuMse  converts  to  follow  that 
teaching.  But  these  rights  are  not  precisely  defined,  nor  is 
any  definite  provision  made  for  securing  them;  but  since  the 
clause  formed  part  of  an  international  arrangement  regulating 
the  respective  rights  of  Chinese  and  foreigners  in  their  relations 
with  each  other,  it  seemed  to  give  the  missi(mary  the  right, 
enjoyed  in  other  spheres  by  the  merchant,  of  appealing  to  his 
consul  in  all  cases  where  the  treaty  was  violated.  In  this  way 
the  missionary  was  constituted  in  some  sense  the  natural  pro- 
tector of  the  right  of  religious  toleration  conceded  to  Chinese 
subjects  by  tiidr  own  govCTnment 

It  is  no  easy  task  to  weigh  the  advantages  and  disadvantages 
of  this  arrangement.  We  are  profoundly  thankful  to  God  that 
in  His  providence  we  have  had  secured,  to  the  fullest,  rec(^;ni- 
tion  of  our  right  to  preach  the  Gospel  throtwhout  the  ^pire, 
and  to  enjoy  tiw  protection  of  the  law  for  me  and  property  in 
doing  so.  We  are  not  less  thankful  that  the  Church,  in  the 
days  of  its  weakness  and  inexperience,  is  spared  the  ord^  of 
fiery  persecution  by  a  hostile  and  determined  government  It 
is  a  mai .  ::llous  thing  that  every  Chinese  subject  who  hears 
the  Gospel,  imder  the  peace  established  by  the  treaiits,  has  hit 
ri|^  raoogmaed  to  w««^  God  accoraag  to  Ut  '^""trhiiri 


aaa        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


In  this  way  the  Church  has  been  to  a  large  extent  sheltered  dur- 
ing its  years  of  weakness,  and  the  time  has  been  given  for  its 
l^rowth  in  numbers,  in  influence,  and  what  is  more  important, 
in  tntdligent  comprehenstoo  of  the  truth,  and  in  the  futh  and 
courage  which  spring  from  enlarged  experience  of  the  Qiristian 
life. 

But  these  great  gains  are  not  without  their  drawbacks.  In 
India  it  seems  undoubtedly  an  evil  that,  notwithstanding  the 
cf!^cial  neutrality  of  the  Btitish  Government,  it  yet  inevitably 
appears  to  the  native  mind  that  Christianity  comes  among  them 
backed  by  all  the  authority  and  influence  of  the  ruling  power. 
The  Hindu  hearer  of  the  Gospel,  belonging  to  a  race  that  is 
miturally  weak  and  {diant  as  compared  with  the  sturdy  independ- 
ence of  the  Chinese,  sees  that  the  keys  of  advancement  and  the 
springs  of  power  are  in  Chtistian  hands,  and  he  is  tempted  to 
seek  favour  by  compliance  vith  the  religion  of  his  superiors, 
while  the  stronger  minds  mav  be  driven  all  the  more  to  hold 
aloof.  In  China  it  is  a  distinct  advantage  that  those  who  profess 
Christianity  know  well  that  they  will  not  ingratiate  themselves 
with  the  Government  by  doing  so.  The  new  religion  is 
preached  by  despised  aliens,  and  those  who  follow  it  incur  a 
kind  of  social  ostracism  by  connecting  themselves  with  it 
This  tends  to  deter  the  insincere  and  secure  the  purity  of  the 
Church. 

It  is,  therefore,  an  undeniable  disadvantage  that  another  set 
of  ideas  has  been  fostered  by  the  treaty  arrangements.  The  ill- 
defined  right  of  toleration  is  enjoyed  by  the  Christians  under 
pressure  from  foreign  governments.  They  thus  appear  to  stu^ 
apart  from  the  bulk  of  their  fellow-countrymen,  and  to  be  under 
a  foreign  protectorate. 

But  Dr.  Gibson's  mature  judgmen.;  is  in  favour  of  the  "  Tol- 
eration Clause."  In  his  report  as  Chairman  of  the  Commission 
on  "  The  Chinese  Church  '  ht  said  at  tiie  China  Centenaiy  Mis- 
sionary Conference: 

With  regard  to  the  question  whether  any  action  should  be 
taken  by  missionaries  for  the  protection  of  converts,  two  views 
are  held.  Some  argue  that  they  should  be  taught  to  look  for 
Divine  protection,  while  the  missionary  declines  to  give  any  aid. 
This  appears  to  me  to  resemble  too  closely  the  action  condemned 
in  James  ii:  15, 16,  to  be  a  safe  rule  of  action.  It  is  true  that 
God  can  give,  and  does  give,  protectioB  to  Ifis  own,  but  it  bgr 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


no  means  follows  that  He  forbtda  the  mUskmaiy  to  be  His 
agent  or  minister.  We  do  not  refiise  to  give  food  to  a  Chrfartiui 

in  time  of  famine  on  the  ground  that  God  will  care  for  His  own, 
and  that  the  righteous  will  not  be  left  to  beg  his  bread.  On  the 
contrary,  if  we  believe  that  protection  from  persecution  lies 
within  the  purposes  of  God's  providence,  it  is  exUemdv  probaUe 
that  we  are  the  agents  through  whom  He  wSl  gire  it  I  have 
no  doubt  that  there  are  cases  in  which  we  shall  fail  of  our  duty 
if  we  do  not  seek  to  save  Christian  people  from  lawless  violence. 
The  difficulty  is  to  distinguish  wUdi  are  the  cases  in  which  we 
ought  to  interfere,  and  here  we  cannot  be  too  cautious.  We 
should  remonber  in  every  instance  that  when  we  have  leariMd 
all  we  possiUy  can,  we  have  never  heard  quite  the  whole  story, 
and  should  practise  caution  and  reserve  in  stating  our  case. 
We  shotild  also  remember  tiiat  by  soliciting  official  mterlerence 
it  is  possiUe  that  we  taay  aggravate  a  temporary  difference  into 
a  permanent  hostility,  and  may  only  smootti  the  patfi  of  one  for 
tiie  moment  at  the  cost  of  permanently  hardening  a  whole  clan 
or  village  a^;ainst  the  Gospel.  If  we  can  once  establish  a  char- 
acter for  ftumess  and  integrity,  it  will  often  be  possible  to  have 
cases  of  "  persecution  "  settled  in  a  f rioidly  and  therefore  most 
effective  way  by  the  intervention  of  disinterested  persons  in  the 
neighbourhood.  When  this  can  be  done,  nrach  is  gained  ia 
everv  wa3r. 

But  witii  the  utmost  care  there  will  still  be  cases  in  which 
we  must  appeal  to  the  officials.  On  this  ma  .y  hard  things  have 
been  said  against  us  by  st9tesmen  and  public  writers.  We  are 
accused  of  establishing  a  "  protectorate  over  mission  converts." 
In  reply  to  this  it  is  enough  to  make  two  remarks. 

(1)  We  do  not  try  to  create  a  foreign  protectorate  outside 
of  the  Qiinese  law  for  Christians.  We  only  ask  that  they  should 
not  be  outlawed.  It  is  not  we  but  our  opponents  and  critics 
who  forget  that  Christian  Chinese  are  still  Chinese  subjects. 
The  mandarins  forget  and  sometimes  furiously  deny  this,  and 
we  are  bound  to  remind  them  of  it  The  "  protection  "  we  sede 
to  procure  for  converts  is  the  protection  of  the  Chinese  law. 
Both  we  and  our  critics  must  remember  that  we  do  not  even  ask 
for  "  justice,"  i.e.,  for  justice  after  the  high  standards  of  the 
West,  for  our  converts.  We  only  ask  that  they  should  receive 
the  same  kind  of  justice  or  injustice,  or  quaint  blend  of  the  two, 
which  the  Chinese  subjects  are  aUe  to  procure  from  that  tri- 
bunals. 

(2)  The  remedy  for  "missionary  cases"  does  not  lie  in 
further  restrictions  upon  missionaries  or  Chinese  Christians,  lot 


!  I 


224        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


in  the  impartial  enforcement  of  the  common  law  by  the  man- 
darins without  prejudice  or  partiality  on  the  ground  of  rdigimi. 

It  is  certain  that  the  Chinese  officials  have  been  greatly 
troubled  iu  mind  over  the  outworkings  of  the  toleration  clause. 
Their  main  troubles  have  come  from  the  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries, who  have  sought  and  used  a  political  status  also 
offered  to  and  openly  renounced  by  the  Protestant  missionaries, 
but  it  is  true  also  that  some  Protestant  missionaries  have  inter- 
fered in  Chinese  courts  in  behalf  of  Christians,  although  the 
practice  has  not  been  general  and  the  interference  has  in  almost 
every  case,  if  not  in  every  one,  been  because  the  missionary 
was  convinced  that  the  trouble  was  one  of  direct  or  indirect  per- 
secution. Dr.  Bergen  of  the  Shantung  Province  reported  some 
years  ago  that  he  had  asked  73  missionaries  as  to  their  prac- 
tice and  had  found  that  35  had  never  interfered  in  litigation  at 
all  and  48  had  not  applied  for  aid  to  the  Chinese  officials  more 
than  three  times  each.  The  Chinese  officials  as  a  rule,  however, 
would  be  glad  to  have  such  intervention  entirely  cease.  As 
one  Chinese  writes :  "  Notwithstanding  the  outward-^>erhap8 
real,  in  some  cases — kindly  disposition  of  the  Chinese  officials 
towards  the  missionaries  of  late  years,  they  as  p  class  still  con- 
sider the  latter  as  unavoidable  evils,  whom  they  must  try  to 
tolerate  with  as  minimum  sufferings  and  damages  as  possible. 
An  official  in  being  appointed  to  a  certain  place  nowadays  first 
of  all  inquires  not  about  the  '  temper  of  the  people,'  but  whether 
that  place  has  had  any  ' missionary  cases'  before,  and  if  so, 
he  must  think  that  he  has  got  into  a  bad  and  difficult  position." 
—{ChitM's  Young  Men,  April,  1905,  Art.  "The  Missionary 
Question,"  p.  24.)  And  Viceroy  Tuan  Fang  in  New  York 
requested  the  missionary  societies  to  change  "  advise  against "  to 
"  forbid "  in  their  instructions  to  their  missionaries  in  China, 
discountenancing  interference  in  any  native  litigation  whatever. 

The  question  involved,  however,  is  a  much  larger  one  than 
this.  The  great  issue  is,  should  Christian  nations  seek  to  secure 
the  recognition  by  the  non-Christian  nations  of  the  principle  of 
religious  toleration?  If  they  regard  this  as  their  duty,  and  do  se- 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


225 


cure  the  acceptance  of  this  princip'  m  treaty  stipulations,  will  the 
results  be  injurious  to  the  m^isicridiy  eut?>-prise?  If  toleration 
clauses  are  inserted  in  treatie ,  how  can  the  <(:>ossil»lities  of  evil  be 
escaped,  and  what  should  bt  th  •  policy  of  missionaries  toward 
the  duties  which  such  treat_^  .-fi-'iiaiionf  create?  It  is  clear 
that  if  such  stipulations  are  entered  into,  they  should 
cover  simply  the  essential  principle  of  toleration,  and  those 
abuses  by  which  evil  men  take  shelter  in  the  Chufch  to  secure 
an  immunity  from  merited  punishment  should  be  avoided.  The 
language  of  the  new  American  treaty  of  1903,  already  quoted, 
defines  the  proper  limits  and  precautions.  It  might  have  been 
well,  some  would  say,  to  have  incorporated  such  language  in 
the  treaty  of  i860.  It  was  impossible.  No  one  had  sufficient 
foresis^t,  but  perhaps  the  treaty  of  1903  would  never  have  been 
if  the  treaty  of  i860  had  not  been  first.  It  is  possible  now 
to  define  the  rights  of  Chinese  Christians  by  treaty,  because  in 
i860  the  right  of  a  Chin<»e  Christianity  was  secured. 

The  fact,  however,  that  these  rights  of  Chinese  Christians 
are  secured  by  a  foreign  treaty  leaves  with  the  foreign  govern- 
ment and  those  on  whom  it  must  depend  for  its  knowledge  of 
facts  responsibtUties  which  are  full  of  danger,  but  whidi  cannot 
on  that  account  be  ignored.  "  It  will  undoubtedly  simplify  the 
missionary's  course  in  many  cases  "  says  Dr.  Gibson,  "  to  have 
an  unalterable  rule  that  he  will  on  no  consideration  appeal  to 
the  foreign  consul  or  native  mandarin  for  die  protection  of 
Christian  converts;  but  solutions  of  such  extreme  simplicity  are 
seldom  the  right  ones.  We  cannot  dissociate  ourselves  from 
die  fact  tlMt  we  are  members  of  a  nation  whose  Christian  dvilita- 
tion  and  history  have  given  it,  in  common  with  other  Christian 
nations,  an  enormous  amount  of  power  and  influence.  The 
Chinese  Government,  under  pressure  of  this  power,  has  recog- 
nised what  is  in  itself  absolutdy  ami  indisputably  true,  tl»t 
all  men,  and  the  Chinese  like  others,  have  an  inalienable  right 
to  follow  the  truth  and  to  worship  God  without  interference 
or  perseoition.  In  the  providence  of  God  we  have,  willingly 
or  unwillingly,  become  to  the  Qiinese  the  asserters  and  represent- 
ativM  of  this  undoiiabk  prmdide.  It  ia  inqtowiMc  for  tu  Id 


226         CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


divest  ourselves  of  this  character  and  to  assume  that  of  the 
earliest  preachers  of  Christianity,  when  it  was  a  proscribed 
foith  with  neither  wealth  nor  worldly  influence  behind  it,  still 
upon  its  trial  and  facing  without  support  the  whole  strengdi 
of  the  civilised  world." 

But  there  are  those  who  question  the  wisdom  of  nutking 
religious  toleration  a  matter  of  government  action.  But  why? 
We  hold  now  that  each  government  for  itself  should  establish 
the  principle  of  religious  liberty  as  a  constitutional  right  of  its 
people.  Well,  these  people  are  going  all  over  the  world.  Are 
they  not  to  enjoy  wherever  they  go  their  religious  freedom? 
How  are  they  to  do  it  unless  in  each  land  to  which  they  go 
their  government  follows  them  with  the  protection  of  its  extra- 
territorial jurisdiction,  or  unless  in  each  land  the  principle  of 
toleration  prevails?  How  is  it  to  be  brought  to  prevail  in  these 
lands,  save  by  international  influence?  And  this  right  of  re- 
ligious freedom  ought  to  belong  to  every  man,  not  to  Scotchmen 
and  Americans  in  China  and  Turkey,  but  to  Chinese  and  Turks 
also,  not  only  when  they  come  to  Scotland  and  America,  but 
when  they  are  at  home  in  their  own  lands.  We  believe  that  this 
proposition  should  be  laid  down  unequivocally,  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  enlightened  and  free  nations  to  secure  the  recog- 
nition of  the  right  of  religious  freedom  universally.  Mr.  Roose- 
velt held  this  view.  "  This  adnrinistratimi,"  he  declared  in  1904, 
in  his  letter  of  acceptance  of  his  renomination  to  the  Presidency 
of  the  United  States,  "  has  on  all  proper  occasions  given  clear 
expression  to  the  belief  of  the  American  people  that  discrimina- 
tion and  oppression  because  of  religimi,  wherever  practised,  are 
acts  of  injustice  before  God  and  man;  and  in  making  evident 
to  the  world  the  depth  of  American  conviction  in  this  regard, 
we  have  gone  to  the  very  limit  of  diplomatic  usage."  Govern- 
ments have  again  and  again  intervened  to  prevent  oppression 
and  injustice.  Europe  interfered  in  Bulgaria.  It  was  Europe's 
shame  that  she  did  not  interfere  in  Armenia.  America  inter- 
fered in  Cuba.  Great  Britain  interfered  in  Barmah.  If  h  is 
right  to  go  to  war  to  prevent  injustice,  it  is  right  to  seek  to 
prevent  it  in  advance  by  peaceful  treaty  agreements.  Religious 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS 


327 


intolerance  and  persecution  are  wrongs  before  God  and  man. 
It  is  the  duty  of  Christian  nations  to  forestall  and  terminate 
such  wrongs.  They  do  what  it  is  right  to  do,  what  it  would 
be  wrong  not  to  do,  in  securing  for  all  men  the  benefits  of  full 
religious  toleration.  And  that  involves  on  their  part  action 
in  some  such  form  as  was  taken  in  the  case  of  China.  When 
it  was  clear  tiiat  there  would  be  religious  intolerance  and  per- 
secution the  Western  nations  did  what  they  could  to  guard 
against  such  wrongs.  The  necessary  form  of  action  was  a  treaty 
guarantee  of  toleration  in  the  case  of  the  religion  for  which 
they  had  a  sense  of  reqxmsilMlity,  and  which  was  likely  to  be 
the  victim. 

"  It  might,  perhaps,  be  arguable,"  said  the  Spectator  some 
years  ago,  "  that  missionaries  in  China  could  not  claim  the  pro- 
tection of  England,  supposing  they  were  breaking  the  law  of 
the  land  by  teaching  Christianity.  Personally,  we  hold  that 
there  is  a  good  deal  to  be  said  for  the  opinio  .  that  they  should 
be  protected  even  in  that  case,  or  in  other  words,  that  no 
Christian  state  should  recognise  the  right  of  a  semi-civilised 
power  to  exclude  the  entry  of  Christianity."  This  is  only  a 
corollary  of  tiw  general  principle  whkh  I  have  suggested,  namely, 
that  governments  are  right  in  taldnf  uetioa  in  bdiall  of  com- 
plete religious  toleration. 

The  United  States  made  representation  in  this  view  to  Japan 
in  the  years  before  Japan  had  embodied  tiie  principle  of  tolera- 
tion in  a  constitution.  When  the  country  was  opened  to 
foreigners,  "  it  appeared,"  as  Mr.  Foster  says,  "  that,  notwith- 
standing the  seme  measures  which  had  been  adopted  in  the 
seventeenth  century  for  the  suppresyon  of  the  'evil  sect,'  » 
considerable  body  of  native  Christians— numbering  several  thou- 
sand-^ad  secretly  kept  their  faith,  and  the  changed  condition 
of  the  country  emboldened  them  to  make  themselves  known. 
This  awakened  the  hostility  of  the  government,  and  a  proclama- 
tion was  issued  by  the  Emperor  reviving  the  ancient  prohibitive 
decreet.  The  matter  came  to  the  notice  of  the  American  Mm- 
ister.  He  convoked  his  colleagues,  and  an  identic  note  of  pro- 
test wM  agreed  upon  and  mt  to  the  JapaatM  Gommnt 


a  "        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


"  On  receipt  of  the  proclamation  by  Secretary  Seward,  he 
replied  to  Mr.  Van  Valkenburgh  that  the  President  '  regards 
the  proclamation  as  not  merdy  ill-judged,  but  as  injurious  and 
offensive  to  the  United  States  and  to  all  other  Christian  states, 
and  as  directly  conflicting  with  the  eighth  article  of  the  treaty 
of  1858,  and  no  less  in  conflict  with  the  tolerating  spirit  and 
princij  es  which  prevail  throughout  the  world.  You  are  advised, 
therefore,  that  the  United  States  cannot  acquiesce  in  or  submit 
to  the  Mikado's  proclamation.'  The  minister  v.as  instructed  to 
bring  the  nutter  quietly  and  in  a  friendly  manner  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Japanese  Government,  in  view  of  the  civil  disturb- 
ances, but  to  '  proceed  with  firmness  and  without  practising  in- 
jurious hesitation  or  accepting  any  abasing  compromise.'  The 
other  treaty  Powers  a;k>pted  the  same  course,  but  not  until  after 
much  discussion  and  delay  on  the  part  of  the  Japanese  Govem- 
nwnt  did  the  persecution  cease  and  were  all  the  prohibitions 
against  Christianity  revoked."— (Foster,  "American  Diplomacy 
in  the  Orient,"  p.  aoo  f.) 

Similar  representations  have  been  made  by  the  European 
powers  to  Turkey.  In  1853,  when  the  British  and  French  fleets 
were  in  the  Turirish  waters  for  the  protecticm  of  Turicey,  "a 
young  man  was  judicially  condemned  to  death  and  publicly 
executed  in  Adrianople,  by  the  Ottoman  authorities,  for  the 
crime  of  having  apostatised  from  Islam  to  Christianity.  He 
had  openly  declared  that  Christ  was  the  true  Proi^iet,  and  that, 
having  Him,  he  had  no  need  of  Mohammed,  who  therefore  was 
a  false  Prophet.  He  was  cast  into  prison  and  cruelly  tortured 
to  induce  him  to  recant,  but  in  vain.  On  being  beheaded,  he 
exclaimed  with  his  last  breath,  '  I  profess  Jesus  Christ,  and  for 
Him  I  die.'  On  September  17,  1855,  the  Eari  of  Qarendon, 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  wrote  to  Lord  Stratford  de  Red- 
eliffe,  the  British  Ambassador  at  Consttntinople: '  The  Christiaii 
Powers,  who  are  making  gigantic  efforts  and  submitting  to 
enormous  sacrifices,  to  save  the  Turkish  Empire  from  ruin  and 
(testruction,  cannot  permit  tiie  emtinuance  of  a  law  in  Turkey, 
which  is  not  only  a  standing  insult  to  them,  but  a  source  of 
cruel  persecution  to  their  eo-religioiiists,  #htdi  thqr  atver  eta 


MISSIONS  AND  POUTICS 


339 


consent  to  perpetuate  by  the  successes  of  their  fleets  and  umsn. 
They  are  entitled  to  demand,  and  Her  Majesty's  Government  do 
distinctly  demand,  that  no  punishment  whatever  shall  attach  to 
the  Mah(mietan  who  becomes  a  Christian.'  The  same  noUe 
language  of  Christian  patriotism  had  also  been  held  earlier  by 
the  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  who  wrote  to  Sir  Stratford  Canning  on 
January  16,  1844:  'The  Christian  Powers  will  not  endure  that 
the  Porte  should  insult  and  trample  on  their  faith,  by  treating 
as  a  criminal  any  person  who  embraces  it.'  The  intention  was 
to  induce  the  Porte  to  renounce  and  abrogate  the  law  in  ques- 
tiwi.  But  the  spirited  correspondence  with  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment, even  under  those  exceptionally  favourable  circumstances, 
led  to  no  greater  result  than  that,  early  in  the  year  1856,  a 
Memorandum  was  agreed  upon  containing  these  words :  '  As  all 
forms  of  religion  are  and  shall  be  freely  professed  in  tiie  Otto- 
man dominions,  no  subject  of  His  Majesty  the  Sultan  shall  be 
hindered  in  the  exercise  of  the  religion  that  he  professes,  nor 
shall  be  in  any  way  annoyed  on  this  accotmt.  None  shall  be 
compelled  to  change  their  religion.'  The  discovery  had  been 
made  that  the  objectionable  law,  being  regarded  as  invested 
with  a  divine  character,  could  not  be  annulled  or  abrogated  by 
any  human  authority  whatsoever.  Therefore,  tiie  British  Am- 
bassador considered  it  best  to  advise  his  Government  to  be 
content  with  the  aforementioned  clause,  saying  in  his  despatch 
to  the  Eari  of  Qarendom,  dated  February  12,  1856:  '  The  law 
of  the  Koran  is  not  abolished,  it  is  true,  Ttapeedt^  ren^des, 
and  the  Sultan's  ministers  affirm  that  such  a  stretch  of  authority 
would  exceed  even  His  Majesty's  legal  powers.  But,  however 
that  nny  be,  tiie  practical  application  of  it  is  renounced  by 
means  of  a  public  document,  and  Her  Majesty's  Government 
would  at  any  time  be  justified  in  complaining  of  a  breach  of 
engagement  if  the  Porte  were  to  authorise  or  to  permit  any  ex- 
ception to  its  own  oflkial  dcdantion.' -(Koblui,  "  Motemmed 
and  Mohammedanism,"  p.  474.) 

In  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  into  which  England,  Austria,  Russia, 
France,  Italy,  and  Turkey  entered  in  1878,  it  is  declared  in 
Artidt  a  tiitl  conptett  re^[ioui  liberty  is  to  exist  k  tiw  vt^^ 


230        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


territories  mentioned  in  the  preceding  article,  "  including  the 
whole  Turkish  Empire."  The  62d  article  begins :  "  The  Sublime 
Porte,  having  expressed  its  willingness  to  maintain  the  principle 
of  religious  liberty  and  to  give  it  the  widest  sphere,  the  con- 
tracting parties  take  cognisance  of  this  spontaneous  declaration." 
The  work  of  the  West  in  this  matter  is  not  ended,  however. 
"  In  spite  of  the  reiterated  declarations,"  says  Dr.  Barton,  "  it 
is  evident  that  the  Turkish  Government  does  not  and  never  did 
intend  to  acknowledge  the  right  of  a  Moslem  to  become  a  Chris- 
tian. A  high  official  once  told  the  writer  that  Turkey  gives 
to  all  her  subjects  the  widest  religious  liberty.  He  said :  '  There 
is  the  fullest  liberty  for  the  Armenian  to  become  a  Catholic, 
for  the  Greek  to  become  an  Armenian,  for  the  Catholics  and 
Armenians  to  become  Greeks,  for  any  one  of  them  to  beame 
Protestant,  or  for  all  to  become  Mohammedans.  There  is  the 
fullest  and  completest  religious  liberty  for  all  the  subjects  of 
this  empire.'  In  response  to  the  question,  '  How  about  liberty 
for  the  Mohammedan  to  become  a  Christian  ? '  he  replied : '  That 
is  an  impossibility  in  the  nature  of  the  case.  When  one  has 
once  accepted  Islam  and  become  a  follower  of  the  Prophet  he 
cannot  change.  There  is  no  power  on  earth  that  can  change 
him.  Whatever  he  may  say  or  claim  cannot  alter  the  fact  that 
he  is  a  Moslem  still,  and  must  always  be  such.  It  is,  therefore, 
an  absurdity  to  say  that  a  Moslem  has  the  privilege  of  changing 
his  religion,  for  to  do  so  is  beyond  his  power.'  For  the  last 
forty  years  the  actions  of  the  official  and  influential  Turks  have 
borne  out  this  theory  of  religious  liberty  in  the  Ottoman  Empire. 
Every  Moslem  showing  interest  in  Christian  things  takes  his 
life  in  his  hands.  No  protection  can  be  afforded  him  against 
the  false  charges  that  begin  at  once  to  multiply.  His  only  safety 
lies  in  flight."— (Barton,  "  Daybreak  in  Turkey,"  p.  256  ff.) 

Now,  apart  altogether  frmn  the  interests  of  the  misrionary 
movement,  we  believe  that  it  is  wrong  for  the  Christian 
nations  to  allow  Turkey  to  deny  to  her  Moslem  subjects  the 
r^ht  to  becraie  Christie  is,  or  to  kill  men,  women,  and  children 
as  was  done  in  the  Armenian  massacres,  whose  only  crime  was 
Christ.   It  may      ;  'd  in  reply  that  the  Turkish  EmfMrc  is 


MISSIONS  AND  POLITICS  331 

a  Mosfcm  state,  and  that  the  ccmversion  of  Moslems  to  Chris- 
tianity would  destroy  the  character  of  the  state.  Undoubtedly 
it  would  transform  it.  But  all  religions  should  be  free  to  appeal 
to  men,  provided  they  do  not  assail  the  moral  axioms  of  life, 
as  no  religion  can  which  will  command  the  assent  of  men  in 
a  free  society.  And  only  those  institutions  ought  to  be  free 
to  endure  which  can  command  the  loyalty  of  free  men.  It 
is  not  the  duty  of  the  Western  nations  to  annihilate  one  an- 
other's nationality  or  the  nationality  of  the  non-Christian  nations, 
but  it  is  their  duty  to  demand  that  the  human  spirit  in  all  lands 
shall  be  free  to  think  its  own  thoughts  and  pursue  its  own 
worship  of  God. 

But  now  to  turn  to  our  last  question,  it  is  asked,  does  not 
all  this  confusion  of  missions  and  poUtics,  of  the  duties  of 
governments  with  the  work  of  Christianity,  hopelessly  entangle 
the  missionary  movement,  defile  its  purity,  paralyse  its  ^rittud 
strength,  and  frustrate  its  aim  ? 

We  reply,  first,  that  it  is  inevitable,  and  as  governments  im- 
prove is  certain  to  increase ;  second,  that  it  is  assuredly  fraught 
with  danger  and  the  possibilities  of  disaster;  and  third,  that 
it  is  the  confusion  of  an  era  of  construction  in  which  by  diverse 
and  entan^ed  forces  God  is  building  His  kingdom  among  men. 

It  is  inevitable.  I  have  already  spoken  of  tiie  impossiUlity 
of  separating  the  missionary  and  his  movement  from  the  con- 
ditions in  which  alone  they  could  originate  and  under  which 
alone  they  can  operate.  The  misskmary  movement  is  in- 
evitable, and  stripped  as  you  please  to  strip  it,  it  remains  an 
effort  on  the  part  of  Western  men  to  cairy  a  religion  which 
has  become  domesticated  in  the  West  to  the  East  to  secure 
its  domestication  in  life  there.  The  problem  is  inevitably  a 
problem  of  man's  organised  life,  that  is  of  politics. 

And  the  confusion  will  increase  because  the  Western  nations 
are  to  act  increasingly  together  in  a  spirit  of  unselfish  service. 
They  are  to  take  over  more  and  more  distin  .lively  missionary 
duties.  No  one  can  travel  through  the  great  sections  of  the 
worM  neglected  and  undeveloped  by  incompetent  peoples,  with- 
oitt  xuMog  the  validity  of  the  monl  bub  on  which,  as  Pro- 


!  II 


232 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


}  -.9 


lessor  Reinsch  has  said,  political  expansion  is  justified  by  its 
advocates,  even  if  one  doubts  whether  expansion  is  the  one 
necessary  implicaticxi,  the  claim,  natndy,  "that  large  portions 
of  the  earth's  surface  are  in  the  hands  of  nations  or  tribes  who 
are  guilty  of  an  under-development  of  their  natural  resources. 
As  the  world  becomes  more  and  more  densely  populated, — so 
runs  the  argument, — the  natural  wealth  of  the  remoter  regions 
must  be  utilised  for  the  benefit  of  mankind,  and  if  any  nation 
or  tribe,  by  the  use  of  antiquated  methods  of  production,  or 
by  total  n«^lect  of  certain  parts  of  its  resources,  such  as  mines 
or  forests,  stands  in  the  way  of  this  great  need,  that  nation  or 
tribe  must  pass  under  the  political  power  or  tutelage  of  a  nation 
that  will  draw  from  the  earth  the  uonost  quantity  of  produce. 
At  any  rate,  the  world  must  be  policed,  so  that  in  every  part 
of  it  investments  of  capital  may  be  made  securely,  and  so  that 
industrial  works  may  be  carried  on  without  annoyance  or  mo- 
lestation from  the  natives.  Few  nations,  however,  stop  with 
this  demand.  Most  of  them  frankly  regard  the  world  as  the 
inheritance  of  the  most  powerful  races,  which  have  a  right  to 
replace  those  that  are  more  barbarous  or  less  well  endowed  with 
force  of  mind  and  character.  An  advocate  of  radical  methods 
of  colonisation  says :  '  It  is  an  inexorable  law  of  progress  that 
inferior  races  are  made  for  the  purpose  of  serving  the  superior; 
and  if  they  refuse  to  serve,  they  are  fatally  condemned  to  dis- 
appear.'"— (Reinsch,  "World  Politics,"  p.  11.)  In  a  foot- 
note Professor  Reinsch  adds  the  less  selfish  theory  held  by 
German  historians  like  Mommsen,  Sybel,  Ranke,  and  Von  Hoist 
that  the  superior  nations  have  tlw  missicm  to  civilise  the  inferior, 
if  necessary,  by  force.  Without  the  pressure  of  a  just  and 
peaceful  political  constraint,  Vambery  holds,  the  r^eneration 
of  the  Moslem  world  is  impossible.  The  world's  int'.rest  in  it- 
sdf  it  to  increase  steadily,  and  the  relation  of  p  olitics  to  the 
work  of  missions  is  to  grow  more  intricate,  wlwther  missionaries 
will  or  no. 

And  as  tiie  Western  naticws  enter  witii  inereasiiqf  intimacy 

and  responsibility  into  the  life  of  other  nations,  they  will  in- 
creasingly ask  themselves,  "  What  are  our  duties  to  the  nati<mf? 


MISSIONS  AND  POUTICS 


Are  they  merely  governmental  or  commercial?   Have  we  not 
intellectual  and  moral  responsibilities  also?"   And  these  ques- 
tions bring  time  nations  and  their  representatives  face  to  face 
with  their  governmental  religious  responsibility.   On  tfiis  point 
but  two  things  need  be  said,  each  of  which  will  indicate  the  cer- 
tainty of  increasing  relationship  between  the  political  and  the 
rd«ioas  missioiM  of  the  West  to  die  East  One  is  that,  just 
as  the  missionary  inevitably  has  a  political  message  wrapped 
up  in  his  mission  and  his  Gk)spel,  so  the  statesman  or  the 
merchant  has  a  religious  message,  which  he  delivers  in  spite 
of  himself,  for  or  against  Christ  and  the  aim  nduch  tiie  mis- 
sionary serves.    The  men  whom  the  West  sends  out  will  in- 
creasingly be  men  of  the  best  ty^  of  the  past-^en  like  Town- 
send  Harris,  one  of  the  most  useful  diplomatists  of  the  last 
century,  who  records  in  his  diary  during  the  negotiations  wiA 
Japan  which  resulted  in  the  treaty  of  1858:  "I  shall  be  both 
proud  and  happy  if  I  can  be  the  humble  means  of  once  more 
opening  Japan  to  the  blessed  rale  of  Christianity";  like  the 
Punjab  statesmen  of  the  school  of  the  Lawrences,  who  believed 
in  Christ  and  openly  confessed  and  served  Him.    Such  men 
identifying  themselves  with  the  missionaries  and  sympathising 
with  and  advancing  their  aim  will  further  confuse  misskms  and 
politics.  The  other  point  to  be  noted  is  that,  as  light  breaks  on 
the  difficult  problem  of  Church  and  State  at  home,  and  our 
governments  beconM  in  a  <feeper  and  more  real  sense  Christian, 
they  will  express  their  Christian  character  in  their  relations  to 
other  nations.  If  our  governments  are  purely  secular,  of  course 
they  can  have  none  but  a  secular  message  to  utter;  but  if,  as 
we  believe,  they  are  or  are  meant  to  be  b  a  notfe  sense  rdigkms 
and  Christian,  then  their  Christian  character  will  find  utterance 
as  the  Christian  character  of  John  Lawrence's  Ciovernment  did 
in  tiie  Pmjab.  In  so  far  as  our  Western  nations  become  truly 
Christian  and  act  consistently  with  their  character,  the  confusion 
of  religion  and  politics  is  likely  to  ncrease  in  a  wi^  for  whidi 
we  ardently  pray. 

But  the  political  entanglements  of  misriom  with  pd&Ha  havt 
often  been,  and  win  continue  to  be,  an  anbarrasnnent  abroad. 


334        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


The  story  of  our  relations  with  the  backward  nations  is  not 
all  a  good  story,  and  we  shall  not  escape  "the  nemesis,"  as 
Professor  Moore  calls  it,  "  of  the  connection  between  the  mission 
woric  and  natioiial  ambitions,  international  compUcatioos,  and 
race  agitations,  commercial  exploitations,  and  what  not.  .  .  . 
In  a  far  higher  degree  than  we  really  have  been  responsible 
for  tiiem  we  shall  be  complicated  in  the  issues.  For,  having 
once,  even  only  in  a  left-handed  way,  profited  by  these,  or  only 
not  sufficiently  rebuked  by  them,  we  shall  have  with  our  own 
right  hand  to  pay  the  hill"— {Harvard  Theological  Review,  July, 
1908,  p.  260.)  "  So  your  religion  is  a  part  of  your  Western 
life  ?  "  we  are  told  the  Chinese  will  say  to  us.  "  Well,  we  do 
not  want  your  civilisation  or  anything  that  enters  into  it." 
Mr.  Diddnscm  told  us  this  charmingly  in  his  impersonation  of 
"  A  Chinese  Offidal."  Wdl,  we  must  take  whatever  comes  to 
us,  and  for  our  part  mourn  all  the  wrong  and  injustice  and 
selfishness  and  immoic..uy  of  our  relation  with  Asia  and  Africa, 
bat  we  do  bdkve  tiiat  tiw  misskmary  movement  has  protested 
against  these,  and  we  believe  also  that  Asia  and  Africa  make 
more  discrimination  than  we  suppose,  and  that  in  the  mercy  of 
God  the  evil  that  has  beett  done  will  not  be  as  long  remembered 
as  men  fear,  and  that  t1^  flareback  of  the  unavoidable  connec- 
tion of  missions  with  politics  springing  from  the  real,  even  if 
chaotic  and  contradictory  unity  of  our  outward  movement,  may 
not  be  destructive  or  permanently  injurious. 

We  can  leave  the  consequences  of  all  such  confusion  to  God 
if  our  own  motive  is  pure  and  we  cling  with  loyal  fidelity  to 
our  distinct  aim.  If  missionaries  and  their  movement  by  what 
diey  are  and  do  act  only  in  love  and  sacrifice,  askii^  nothii4' 
and  giving  all,  if  they  teach  those  whom  they  reach  the  truth 
of  Christ  and  to  live  as  the  disciples  of  Christ,  if  they  steadily 
keep  before  themselves  and  tiie  new  Churrhes  the  great  fact 
that  Christianity  is  not  a  religion  of  the  missionaries  of  the 
West,  but  that  the  missionaries  of  the  West  are  the  bearers  of 
a  religion  that  is  all  men's  and  every  nation's, — ^then  the  con- 
fusions of  which  we  have  spoken,  wbidi  are  either  desiraUe 
or  inevitable,  or  both,  will  work  oat  fai  the  end,  with  whatever 


l^SSIONS  AND  POUTICS  ajs 

unavoidable  patience  and  pain,  the  p'^n  of  the  Eternal  One 
Who  governs  all.  The  use  of  great  national  forces  will  be 
seen  to  have  been  part  of  God's  plan.  A  good  man  rejoiced  in 
an  article  in  The  CkmrchmoH  of  September  18, 1900^  in  the  midst 
of  the  Boxer  troubles,  that  in  the  early  centuries,  "  from  the  days 
of  Nero  down,"  "  there  were  no  Christian  powers  to  deflower  and 
dq^rade  the  purity  of  Christianity,  and  no  Christian  flag  to  wrap 
around  and  conceal  the  Cross."  But  we  will  rejoice  that  steadtlf, 
though  all  too  slowly,  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  have  wrought 
their  way  into  the  life  of  the  world,  and  that  by  many  agencies, 
dwugli  by  none  so  purely  as  by  the  enterprise  of  foreign  mis- 
sions, itself  we  recognise  so  imperfect  and  tnoomplete,  tiie  new 
age  of  true  peace  and  justice  comes,  that  new  age  iriiidi 

Stands  as  yet 
Half  built  against  the  sky 
Open  to  every  threat 

Of  storms  that  clamour  by. 
While  scaffolding  veils  the  walls 
And  dim  dust  floats  and  falls 

As  moviiig  to  and  fro  their  tasks  the  masons  pfy. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NON-CHRIS- 
TIAN  RELIGIONS 


V 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NON-CHRISTIAN 
RELIGIONS 


HE  missioiutry  movement  springs  from  the  conviction 


I  that  Christianity  i&  the  HtiivgrMt  rcUgioa,  that  it  is 
-■•  meant  |«r  every  mas  wtf  needed  by  every  man.  This 
cottvietton  invdvcs  ^  -lieKef  that  Qiriataaaity  >is  supcric* -to 
the  nonTChristiaa  rd^ioas.  Some  of  them  claim  to  be  au- 
thoritative and  sufficient  for  special  peoples,  and  others  claim, 
like  Christianity,  to  be  universal.  Christianity  contests  all  these 
claims  when  it  sets  forth  on  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise, 
offerit^  itself  as  better  than  all  other  religions  for  all  men  and 
for  every  man.  This  contention  of  Christianity  must  be  reason- 
ably supported.  A  religion  cannot  claim  to  be  universal  and 
expect  its  claim  to  sustain  itself. 

Each  believer  in  Christianity  must  have  rational  grounds  for 
his  faith.  If  tfie  mere  fact  that  his  Withers  were  ChristiaiM, 
and  that  Christianity  is  the  prevailing  religion  in  his  country, 
are  the  reasons  for  his  Christian  belief,  then  he  must  allow  that 
the  Mohammedans  and  Hindus  have  equally  good  reason  for 
rejecting  Christianity  in  favour  of  their  own  religions.  If  he 
believes  in  the  Bible  as  the  Word  of  God  because  it  appears 
to  make  that  claim  for  itself,  and  in  Christianity  because  its 
preadiers  confidoiUy  tArai  its  tititii,  tiien  he  camot  comfdain 
if  others  urge  similar  grounds  for  loyalty  to  other  religions  utd 
other  sacred  books.  In  early  years  a  child  will  hold  his  religion 
on  such  grounds  as  these,  and  men  and  women  whose  lives 
involve  no  in^ccttial  proUems  may  bdieve  as  diildrai  beUevt. 
But  the  great  mass  of  men  and  women,  if  they  are  to  believe 
their  religion  truly  and  do  its  work  in  the  world,  must  know 


■39 


240        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

why  they  believe  it,  independently  of  tradition  and  authority. 
In  the  Christian  lands  such  knowledge  may  not  necessitate  a 
comparison  of  Christianity  with  the  otlwr  religions  of  the  worid. 
The  glory  of  Christianity  is  that  it  offers  itself  to  human  ex- 
perience to  be  tested,  and  that  it  is  prepared  to  present  to  the 
mind  the  grounds  in  history  and  in  experience  and  in  reason 
on  which  its  claims  to  supreme  authority  rest.  It  hat  absdute 
proofs,  which  do  not  require  comparison  with  the  contentions 
of  all  other  religions  before  they  may  be  accepted.  And  it  has 
been,  and  will  continue  to  be,  those  who  personally  know  God 
in  Christ,  and  who  have  such  an  indisputable  experience  as 
well  as  a  rational  assurance  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  who 
will  go  out  as  its  missionaries. 

But  even  at  hooM  the  possibility  of  cherishing  a  Christian 
faith  without  a  comparison  of  Qiristianity  with  other  religions 
becomes  less  and  less.  We  find  that  there  are  adherents  of 
other  religions  who  claim  for  them  the  power  to  satisfy  tiie 
needs  of  the  soul,  and  who  argue  for  the  validity  and  sufficiency 
of  their  religions  as  against  Christianity.  There  are  many  people 
about  us  who  are  disturbed  by  these  claims.  We  can  only  assure 
them  ratioually.  We  cannot  do  so  by  mere  denundatira  or 
denial.  Furthermore,  what  comparison  we  have  thus  far  made 
so  powerfully  confirms  our  Christian  faith  that  we  are  sure 
to  nuke  increasing  use  of  tlw  results  of  tiie  comparative  study 
of  relit^ons  for  the  vindication  of  Christianity  in  the  home 
lands. 

And  in  the  contention  that  perhaps,  after  all,  our  religion 
is  not  final,  that  we  have  been  misled  regardii^  it,  as  milUoiis 
of  people  have  been  misled  regarding  other  religions;  that  our 
historic  Christianity,  after  all,  is  only  a  phase,  a  stage  in  the 
religious  evolution  of  humanity,  some  of  us  can  only  assure 
oursdves,  and  some  of  us  who  are  undisturbed  by  such  con- 
tentions can  only  convince  others,  through  the  actual  study  and 
comparison  of  all  the  religious  thought  and  life  of  man. 

In  foreign  field,  assured^,  the  compsrison  of  Qirittitirity 
with  the  non-Christian  religions  is  inevitable.  It  is  precisely 
what  the  missionary  enterprise  invites.   It  canimt  expect  the 


CHRISTIANmr  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  241 

people  to  whom  it  goes  at  imce  to  atiandon  their  own  religions 
•ml  to  accept  a  new  one  on  tiie  mere  fiat  of  die  missionaries. 
What  it  seeks  is  intelligent  and  living  faith.  That  involves  the 
examination  of  the  new  and  its  comparison  with  the  old.  The 
new,  indeed,  can  only  be  stated  intelligibly  in  language  asso- 
dated  with  the  old,  and  by  the  use  of  ideas  created  or  preserved 
by  the  old.  Every  wise  activity  of  the  missionary  movement 
mvolves  a  knowledge  of  the  non-Christian  religions  and  of 
their  relatkms  to  Christianity.  The  offer  of  Christianity  to  men 
can  only  be  made  effectively  by  men  who  have  compared  it  with 
other  religions,  and  its  offer  is  itself  an  invitation  to  set  it  in 
such  comparison. 

The  missionary  enterprise  has  made  tiiis  comparison.  The 
West  has  only  begun  to  talk  of  comparative  religion  t  .ring  the 
last  generation,  but  the  missionary  enterprise  has  been  studying 
it  {mt  a  hundred  years.  It  does  not  pretend  to  say  that  it  has 
approached  the  subject  with  an  empty  ntfnd,  with  no  preconcep- 
tions. No  one  can  do  this,  and  if  any  one  could  he  would  be 
utterly  disqualified  for  the  study.  It  is  a  study  of  religion. 
A  Uind  man  m^fat  as  wen  be  set  to  comparing  cdourt  m  ft 
man  without  religion  to  comparing  religions.  Missionaries  have 
gone  out  to  the  foreign  field  with  the  most  positive  and  definite 
cmvictkms,  but  they  have  not  been  disqualified  thereby  from 
studying  justly  the  religious  problem.  No  men  have  been  better 
qualified.  They  are  the  best  experts  in  the  worid  on  Christianity, 
and  the  love  which  has  carried  them  on  their  mission  makes 
diem  die  most  qrnqwthetic  students  of  die  rdigkms  to  iriiidi 
they  go.  Some  of  them  are  accused  of  being  intolerant,  ami 
they  see  enough  to  make  them  so,  but  the  spi/it  of  the  enter- 
prise is  the  spirit  of  such  men  as  the  late  Dr.  Faber  of  China, 
or  of  the  present  Bishop  of  Lahore.  "It  is  my  pnrpose  to 
investigate  scientifically  the  Chinese  religion,"  wrote  Dr.  Faber 
in  his  "  Introduction  to  the  Science  of  Chinese  Religion."  "  Such 
•a  tndertddng  is  different  from  a  description  of  die  religtous 
practices  of  the  present  times.  Religion  has  in  Chtea,  u  every- 
where, its  history.  We  shall  have  to  trace,  as  far  as  possible, 
every  religious  practice  to  its  origin,  show  the  connection  be- 


34a        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


tween  the  present  and  the  past,  and  explain,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  symbolical  forms  from  their  original  ideas,  which  they  too 
often  have  only  preserved  in  a  petrified  state.  I,  as  a  mission- 
ary, want  to  understand  the  religious  state  and  condition  of  the 
people  I  have  to  deal  with."  "  It  has  been  my  effort,"  writes 
Bishop  Lefroy  in  i^>eaking  of  the  Mduumnedans  of  Lahore,  "  to 
enter  as  much  as  possible  into  their  thoughts— understand  as 
intelligently  and  sympathetically  their  creed,  and  look  out  at  least 
as  much  for  its  good  side  and  strong  points  as  for  its  blots  and 
weaknesses.  I  need  scarcely  urge — for  it  IS  now  becoming  gen- 
erally recognised — that  some  such  attitude  as  this  is  alone  either 
worthy  of  our  own  faith,  based  as  it  is  on  the  true  light  which 
lifted  every  man  coming  into  the  world,  or  in  any  degree  likely 
to  win  those  for  whom  we  yearn,  and  mable  them  to  find  in 
Christ  the  satisfaction  of  all  the  deepest  needs  of  their  own  souls, 
the  way  by  which  they  can  come  home  to  their  Father." — (Cam- 
bridge Mission,  Occasicmal  Ftper  No.  at,  p.  3.) 

It  may  be  said  that  this  attitude  of  the  missionary  enter- 
prise is  not  open-minded  and  judicial,  that  for  it  the  issue  is 
already  closed,  and  that  its  study  of  the  non-Christian  religions 
it  merdy  for  the  purpose  of  making  its  propaganda  effective. 
Most  assuredly  foreign  missions  are  not  an  enterprise  of  enquiry 
for  a  true  religion,  an  expression  of  uncertainty  of  faith.  Mis- 
sionaries are  not  hunting  for  truth  which  they  have  not.  Th^ 
are  offering  truth  which  they  believe  they  have.  They  do  not 
regard  themselves  as  omniscient,  but  they  do  regard  their  re- 
ligion as  all-sufhcient,  and  they  are  seeking  to  communicate  it 
to  all  mankind.  But  this  does  not  incapacitate  them  for  sedng 
facts.  And  they  and  their  enterprise  know  the  facts  about  the 
non-Christi?>r  religions.  They  know  them  better  than  the  ad- 
herents and  teachers  of  these  religions  know  tiiem.  Dr.  Barton 
says  that  when  he  was  in  India  "a  Hindu  high  priest  was 
showing  him  through  one  of  their  important  temples.  An 
American  missionary  was  in  the  company.  The  priest  spoke 
&^idi  easily,  w*  was  volttUe  is  his  talk.  Eariy  fai  his  OOO' 
versation  he  was  describing  one  of  the  gods  before  whom  we 
stood,  when  the  missionary  most  adroitly  «nd  kindly  asked  him 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  REUGIONS  343 

if  he  was  not  oonlnsing  the  name  of  the  god  he  was  describing 
with  one  standing  several  feet  away.  He  hesitated  a  moment, 
said  the  missionary  was  right,  and  Aen  went  cm  correctly.  Fre- 
quently after  that  he  consulted  the  missionary  openly  in  rtgaxi 
to  an  idol,  or  a  legend,  or  some  principle  of  Hinduism.  Quietly 
he  said  to  the  writer  during  the  hour  in  the  temple:  ' These 
missiomuries  study  our  rd^im  more  thonnighly  than  tiw  most 
of  us  do,  and  so  come  to  know  it  much  more  accurately.' "  For 
most  of  its  knowledge  of  the  non-Christian  religions  and  peoples 
tiw  West  is  indebted  to  missionaries.  "  I  would  ask  you,"  wrote 
Dr.  R.  E.  Hume  to  Vivakananda,  "what  body  of  fofeigners 
understand  and  sympathise  with  Indians  better  than,  or  as  well 
as,  missionaries?  What  body  of  foreigners  speak  the  vernacular 
as  wdl?"  It  is  true  tint  libt  missionary  enterprise  represents 
a  judgment  already  passed  upcm  tiie  issue  of  comparative  re- 
ligion. We  purpose  to  show  now  what  that  judgment  is,  and 
that  it  is  reasonable  and  just,  and  what  in  view  of  it  the  attitude 
of  tile  missioiMiry  movement  to  tfie  non-Christian  religions  shoidd 
be. 

It  is  to  be  said,  at  the  outset,  that  any  comparison  on  which 
such  a  judgment  rests  must  be  honest  and  fair.  It  must  not 
compare  what  is  best  in  Christianity  with  what  is  worst  in  the 
non-Christian  religions.  It  must  not  charge  as  results  of  any 
religion  conditions  which  exist  in  spite  of  it.  It  must  be  fair  in 
its  s^ctfcm  of  witnesses.  It  must  ai>preciate  the  pdnt  of  view 
of  the  other  side.  It  must  get  at  the  facts,  and  it  must  face 
them  all.  It  is  preposterous  to  propose  that  only  the  favourable 
facts  are  to  be  omsidered.  Christians  especially  must  be  charita- 
ble in  their  judgments  of  other  religions  as  of  other  men,  bttt 
they  are  false  and  not  charitable  if  they  deliberately  leave  out 
some  of  the  facts  on  which  true  judgment  must  be  based. 
It  is  eqwcially  important  that  tiw  diiiqfs  to  be  oonqNured  be 
clearly  defined.  We  have  to  begin  by  understanding  distinctly 
just  what  Christianity  is,  and  just  what  each  of  the  religions 
to  be  compared  with  it  is  also.  We  shall  come  to  the  latter 
before  we  fet  tivough,  but  what  do  we  mean  by  Christianity? 
We  do  not  mta  what  it  called  ChriitiMi  dtriUiatiQB.  So  fv 


244        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


as  Western  civilisation  is  the  product  of  Christiamty  it  enters 
into  the  account,  just  as  Buddhist  and  Confucianist  and  Hindu 
and  Mohammedan  civilisation  enter  in,  so  far,  and  only  so  far, 
as  these  civiUsations  or  any  dements  of  them  are  the  products 
of  those  religions.  But  we  refuse  to  identify  Christianity  with 
Occidental  civilisation.  We  do  not  mean  the  creeds  and  Churches 
of  Christendom,  nor  its  development  of  doctrine,  nor  the  po- 
litical powers  that  are  called  Christian,  nor  the  social  and  in- 
dustrial institutions  of  Western  nations.  We  mean  by  Chris- 
tianity the  Christianity  of  the  New  Testament.  And  we  under- 
stand hy  that  the  living  offer  of  the  Father  God  to  men  m 
Christ,  and  that  reaffirmation  or  new  revelation  of  the  eternal 
and  universal  principles  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  which  the  New 
Testament  enshrines.  That  men  differ  widely  as  to  what  all 
tiiis  means  and  involves  goes  without  saying,  but  for  the  pur- 
pose of  comparing  Christianity  with  the  non-Christian  religions 
it  is  sufficient  to  set  down  on  the  side  of  Christianity  that  in 
which  Christian  men  are  agreed.  On  the  otiier  side,  we  wonld 
set  the  non-Christian  religions,  likewise  essentially  defined. 
Then  the  contrast  must  be  between  these  and  their  effects  on 
the  lives  of  the  men  who  hold  them,  the  society  which  they  con- 
tni  and  inspire,  and  all  the  fruitage  that  they  bear.  In  sudi 
a  comparison,  if  fully  made,  we  would  measure  the  Christian 
conception  of  God,  of  man,  of  life,  of  ethics,  of  society,  of  sin, 
of  salvation,  of  time,  and  of  eternity  over  against  tiie  concep- 
tions of  the  non-Christian  religions ;  the  power  and  influence  of 
the  Christian  religion  to  realise  its  ideals,  to  mould  life,  to  per- 
petuate and  propagate  itself,  over  against  the  power  and  in- 
fluence of  the  other  religions,  and  we  would  come  to  results 
which  we  can  describe  only  in  part,  and  whidi  pour  a  new  yearn- 
ing into  the  missionary  motive  and  run  a  new  resolution  as  firm 
as  the  dutiful  will  of  Christ  into  the  missionary  duty. 

But  before  we  define  these  results,  we  will  not  coiweal  from 
ourselves  the  fact  that  many  others,  either  with  or  without  any 
actual  comparison  of  the  world's  religions,  hold  varying  views 
of  them. 

I.  Some  few  have  found  this  or  that  Eastern  religion  more 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  24$ 


satisfactory  than  they  found  Christianity.  Thus  Schopenhauer 
declared  his  joy  and  contentment  in  the  Upanishads  of  Hindu- 
ism: "Oh,  how  thoroughly  is  the  mind  here  washed  dean  of 
all  early  engrafted  Jewish  superstitions,  and  of  all  philosophy 
that  cringes  before  those  superstitions!  In  the  whole  world 
there  is  no  study  except  that  of  the  originals,  so  beneficial  and 
so  elevating  as  Oat  of  tiie  Upanishads.  It  has  been  tiie  sdace 
of  my  life;  it  will  be  the  solace  of  my  death." — (Quoted  by 
SuKUMAS  Haloar  in  "  Hinduism,"  p.  64,  described  in  the  ad- 
vertisement on  the  cover  as  "  an  effectual  vindication  of  Hindu- 
ism on  tiie  strength  (i)  of  the  Hindu  diastras  and  sages,  and 
(2)  of  the  writings  of  European  savants,  such  as  Jones,  Cole- 
brooke,  Max  Miiller,  Schopenhauer,  Bjomstjema,  Wilson,  El- 
fdunstone,  Heeren,  Tod,  Niebohr,  Mtur,  AxnM,  Fbcocke,  Bfan- 
rice,  Ward,  Kennedy,  Schlcfd,  Cunningham,  Budd^  CMoo, 
and  others.") 

a.  Others  have  started  with  or  come  to  the  view  that  each 
people  has  its  own  suitable  religion,  the  outgrowth  of  its  own 
life,  and  best  adapted  to  its  needs.  Mr.  Bosworth  Smith  holds 
that  "  missionaries  will  no  doubt  be  found  to  acquiesce  in  what 
seems  the  wiC  of  Providence,  tfiat  a  national  religion  is  as  modi 
part  of  a  man's  nature  as  the  genius  of  his  language  or  the 
colour  of  his  skin."— (Lectures  on  "  Mohammedanism,"  2d  ed., 
p.  68.)  And  Mr.  Scawen  Blunt  says  that  "  while  admitting  the 
eternal  truth  of  Christianity  for  ourselves,  we  may  be  tempted 
to  hold  that,  in  the  Arabian  mind,  if  in  no  other,  Islam  too 
may  prove  eternal."— ("  The  Future  of  Islam,"  pp.  142,  172.) 
Aw!  cq>ecially  do  we  hear  this  view  set  forth  to-day  in  behalf 
of  Hinduism.  "  Let  us  be  friends,"  writes  a  Hindu  to  the  Amer- 
ican public  in  a  leading  magazine,  "and  as  children  of  one 
God  forget  all  differences  of  opinion.  You  have  your  religicM, 
and  yott  think  it  best  If  it  is  the  best,  keep  it  to  yoondvcs. 
But  do  not  revile  other  religions.  As  for  faults,  c^r  rdigions 
have  faults,  but  so  has  your  own.  Let  us  pray  Him  whom  you 
caB  God  and  X  call  Brahma,  to  send  us  enl^tenment  and  make 
us  love  eadi  odier  without  conddcraticm  of  caste  and  creed. 
But  I  asiun  you  that  you  cannot  thrust  a  ntw  rtligioii  on  aa 


246        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


already  civilised  nation,  whose  religion  is  the  cradle  of  religions ; 
where  the  people  are  bom  to  their  religion  and  it  is  fostered 
tiirough  generatiims.  .  .  .  Christianity  is  best  suited  to  tiie 
Western  nations.  As  a  -eligion  we  do  not  show  disreqiect  to 
It,  because  every  religion  tends  toward  the  same  end,  namely, 
salvation.  ...  In  the  present  Hindu  religion  one  can  find  all 
tiie  essential  elements  of  all  (rther  reKgimis.  .  .  .  The  Hindus 
regard  it  as  impregnable  and  everlasting.  To  preach  Christianity 
to  the  Hindu,  who  had  a  religion  and  was  civilised  before  the 
dawn  of  history,  seems  to  him,  therefore,  the  most  ridiculous 
things  on  earth — indeed,  audacious." — {The Forum,  i894,pp.489. 
483,  art.  by  Purushatam  Rao  Telang,  on  "  Christian  Missions 
as  Seen  by  a  Brahman.")  And  this  is  the  view  which  Mrs. 
Besant  puts  forth  with  her  ronarkaUe  doquence  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  leaders  of  modem  Hindu  thought.  It  was  the 
dominant  principle  of  her  address  on  "  Hindu  Social  Reform  on 
Nati(»al  Lines  "  at  the  Madras  meeting  of  the  Hindu  Associa- 
tion in  1903: 

The  Hindu  Association  intends  to  promote  Hindu  social  and 
reli^us  advancement  on  national  lines  in  harmony  with  the 
M>int  of  Hindu  civilisation.  There  is  the  distinguishing  mark. 
While  we  have  quarrelled  with  none,  while  we  have  harsh  words 
for  none,  while  we  have  condemnation  for  none,  we  yet  claim 
our  duty  to  choose  the  path  which,  we  believe,  leads  best  to 
our  goal,  and  that  path  is  a  national  path  and  not  a  foreign  one, 
is  one  of  Hindu  civilisation  and  not  of  Westem  civilisation — 
(hear,  hear) — ^is  one  in  which,  while  we  will  take  from  the  West 
ever]rthing  that  is  useful,  that  can  enrich  our  knowledge  and 
enlarge  our  hearts,  we  will  take  nothing  that  despiritualises  India, 
nothing  that  denationalises  India,  nothing  that  makes  her  simply 
a  copy  instead  of  a  divine  original.  We  do  not  want  a  plant  of 
exotic  growth  that  will  wither  before  the  Indian  sun  and  wiU 
be  torn  up  by  the  Indian  storm;  we  want  the  plant  of  Hindu 
growth  and  of  Hindu  root,  that  grows  stronger  when  the  Hindu 
sun  blazes  upon  it  and  is  able  to  resist  the  tornado  as  well  as 
the  tropical  heat.  (Cheers.)  No  reform  is  lasting,  no  change 
is  permanent  which  is  not  based  on  the  traditions  of  the  nation 
and  in  accordance  widi  the  genius  of  the  people.  I  am  not 
cmdenuung  Wcsttra  ways,  Weston  traditioiu,  Western  cut- 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  REUGIONS  347 


toms.  Were  I  in  England  I  should  tell  them  to  base  their  in- 
stitutions on  English  history,  English  genius,  English  tiiought; 
tmt  in  India  I  claim  the  same  right  of  originality  for  the  Indian 
nation  to  base  her  growth  on  Indian  traditions  and  to  build  in 
accordance  with  Indian  architecture.  A  house  is  not  well  built 
which  is  a  mixture  of  every  style  of  building;  here  a  bit  from 
the  architecture  of  England  and  there  a  scrap  that  comes  from 
China;  here  a  doorway  that  has  a  Mussulman  stamp  on  it,  and 
there  a  turret  that  recalls  an  English  cathedral  spire.  Build  your 
temple  as  a  Hindu  temple,  and  then  it  will  stand;  but  if  ^ou 
build  into  it  scraps  of  the  architecture  of  every  other  religion, 
^ou  will  have  a  grotesque  anachronism  and  not  a  national  build- 
mg.  .  .  . 

Then  we  come  to  the  religious  education  of  Hindu  boys  and 
girls  in  all  Hindu  schools  and  colleges.  How  vital  that  is  you 
can  see  if  you  look  round  you.  Why,  only  yesterday  I  stood 
face  to  face  with  a  Brahmana,  of  high  social  position,  of  hig|i 
tnteUecttnl  equifmiait,  who,  trained  m  a  Jesmt  college  by  ttie 
carelessness  of  those  responsible  for  his  training,  is  on  the  verge 
of  renouncing  his  ancestral  religion  and  embracing  Christian 
faith.  (Cries  of  "  Shame.")  Shame;  but  shame  to  whom?  To 
that  youn^  man  (cheers),  to  that  young  man  who,  placed  as  a 
boy,  i^tic  and  helpless,  in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuit  teachers,  has 
been  moulded  like  plastic  clay  by  their  fingers  and  taken  every 
sophism  that  they  present  to  him  as  truth  direct  from  the  mouth 
of  God,  or  shame  to  those  who  place  plastic  minds  in  the  hands 
of  the  Jesuit  and  the  foreigner?  And  shune,  most  of  all,  not 
to  the  one  man  who  sent  his  son  to  that  fatel  influence,  but  to 
the  whole  community  which  has  been  indifferent  (cheers)  to  its 
ancestral  faith,  and  cared  not  whether  its  boys  lost  or  kept  their 
religion  provided  they  gained  the  Western  veneer  which  was 
sufficient  for  the  gaining  of  a  livelihood.  I  do  not  Uame  Western 
veneer ;  I  do  not  want  you  not  to  educate  your  aom  on  Western 
lines.  That  is  necessary  in  the  present  condition  of  India.  But 
why,  at  the  same  time,  not  give  them  Hindu  religious  and  moral 
education?  Why  not  place  within  their  reach  the  priceless 
treasures  that  the  past  has  beaueathed?  By  all  means  give  them 
the  jewels  of  Western  leamfne;  why  should  Chey  not  be  en- 
riched by  them?  But  do  not  deprive  them  of  the  diadem,  the 
diamond  of  the  Eastern  faith  in  which  all  colours  are  found, 
blended  into  one  pure  ray  of  light,  that  diadem  of  Hinduism 
which  is  your  priceless  heirloom,  and  which  India  camiot  afford 
to  lOM.  .  .  . 

There  is  no  nadon  greater  than  India  on  tbt  face  of  the 


348        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

world.  India  has  a  right  and  a  duty  in  the  civilisation  of  the 
future;  she  is  not  simpfy  to  repeat  the  modem  notes  of  younger 
nations ;  she  has  to  sound  out  her  own  mighty  note  which  belongs 
to  her  among  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  this  not  only  for 
^r  interest  but  for  the  interests  of  the  Empire  and  for  the 
mterests  of  the  world  at  large.  Unless  you  keep  your  own 
national  characteristics,  unless  you  preserve  your  religion,  unless 
you  walk  along  the  road  that  suits  the  national  genius,  India  has 
no  national  future  in  the  building  of  the  onning  dviUsatioa. 

This  view,  not  without  elements  of  truth  in  the  case  of  some 
religions  which  we  must  recognise,  is  set  forth  boldly  even  in 
defence  of  fetichism  and  savage  religions.  We  are  bidden  not 
to  disturb  the  primitive  races  in  their  noble  simplicity,  which  can- 
not bear  the  burden  of  the  more  advanced  faith.  This  idea  we 
may  as  well  dismiss  in  passing  with  the  authoritative  testimony 
of  one  who  lived  among  them  and  whose  associate,  James  Chal- 
mers, was  eaten  by  them.  "  We  hear  of  the  noUe  savage,"  says 
Dr.  Lawes,  "  disturbed  in  the  quiet  of  his  simple,  primitive  life ; 
but  during  the  whole  course  of  my  missionary  career  I  have 
never  met  a  noble  savage.  He  exists  only  in  the  minds  of  novel- 
ists and  romancers.  He  is  lascivious,  crafty,  quarrelsome,  and 
selfish,  and  nothing  can  change  him  but  the  power  of  the  Gos- 
pel."— {The  British  Weekly,  May  i6,  1901.) 

3.  The  view  which  we  have  been  considering  is  given  a  much 
nobler  form  by  some  who  see  in  each  religion  God's  effort  to 
reveal  Himself  to  men. 

A  little  here,  again  a  little  there. 

In  varying  measures,  and  in  sundry  wayr 

For  men  of  different  ages,  various  climes. 

God  hath  withdrawn  the  veil  that  hides  His  face. 

Lest  any  man  should  say,  "  God  grudged  me  lieht, 

And  grudging  light,  denied  the  H<^  of  Life/' 

Another  poet  sets  forth  melodiously  the  same  thought: 

God  sends  His  teachers  unto  every  age, 
To  every  clime  and  every  race  of  men, 
With  revdatira  fitted  to  their  growth 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  REUGIONS  249 


And  shape  of  mind,  nor  gives  the  realm  of  titttfa 
Unto  the  selfish  rule  of  one  sole  race: 
Therefore  each  form  of  worship  that  hath  swayed 

The  life  of  men  and  given  it  to  grasp 
The  master  key  of  knowledge,  reverence. 
Infolds  some  germs  of  goodness  and  of  right; 
Else  never  had  the  eager  soul  which  loathes 
The  slothful  down  of  pampered  ignorance. 
Found  in  it  even  a  momoit  s  fitful  rest 

A  missionary  in  China  has  earnestly  set  forth  the  same  view. 
"All  the  great  historic  religions  of  the  world  are  not  only  the 
product  of  seekers  after  God,  but,  as  the  same  sun  shines  in 
Asia  as  in  Europe,  so  it  is  the  same  Spirit  of  God  which  moves 
Arabs,  Hindus,  and  Chinese  prophets  and  sages  to  write  down 
tiiat  with  which  they  believe  God's  Spirit  has  inspired  tiiem,  fmr 
Jesus  Clinst  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world." 
A  Hindu  writer  in  The  Epiphany  goes  somewhat  further: 
"  Christianity  is  not  the  only  way  revealed  by  God,  but  Hinduism 
is  also  the  way  to  God.  The  religion  (whatever  it  may  be)  whtdl 
is  best  makes  us  closest  to  Him.  Hinduism,  which  is  an  ancient 
religion,  is  as  good  a  religion  as  Christianity  itself,  because  if  it 
be  not  good  it  is  utteriy  impossiUe  for  it  to  stand  on  its  own  Ugi 
for  so  many  days  in  Asia  and  oAer  parts  of  the  world  in  the 
midst  of  calamities  and  darkness,  under  the  tyranny  of  ancient 
kings,  and  when  other  religions  by  its  side  wtre  rising  and 
declining  and  trying  the  match  with  it"— (TA^  Epiphany,  Jan- 
uary 23,  1909.) 

Under  this  view  some  hold  that  all  that  is  necessary  is  that 
each  man  should  be  faithf  '  ajd  conscientious  in  following  his 
own  light.  But  the  light  is  darkness  with  some  men.  "Tell 
us  what  Hinduism  is  and  its  not,"  the  Cambridge  missionaries 
reply  to  the  writer  in  The  Epiphany.  "  A  Hindu  has  said  »'  at 
Hinduism  offers  protection  to  the  drunkard,  the  lascivious,  tfw 
liar,  and  the  thug,  for  each  <  f  whom  it  prescribes  a  particular 
kind  of  spirituality,  giving  sanction  to  deeds  of  darkness."  Ro- 
man Cathdidsm  has  extended  sinular  shelter  in  s<»ne  lands.  It 
has  done  ao  in  Mexico.  But  the  men  who  are  futtifisl  to  sudi 


a50        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATION* 


lights  are  not  worthy  of  praise.  Conscientiousnc  s  is  no  proof 
of  truth  or  righteousness.  Conscience  can  be  as  depraved  as 
desire.  Otfiers  under  this  view  hoM  tfiat  ofter  revdttions  are 

superior  to  the  Giristian  rcvf  'ation.    That  is  the  foundation 
contention  of  Islam  and  Vedantism  and  also  of  the  New 
Bad(ftisni,  which,  however,  talks  in  the  terms  of  philosophy  and 
not  of  revelation.— (TAe  Japan  Daily  MaU,  Mov  h  31,  1892; 
Art.  "  The  New  Buddhism  '  1   Other  s  -till  hold  thi,  new  as  part 
of  a  larger  thought  of  God's  education  of  the  human  race,  seeinf 
ia  die  non-Christian  religions  either  God's  present  sdiool  tot  the 
non-Christian  peoples  or  His  past  -choolmasters  to  bring  them  to 
Christ.   Some  set  forth  this  conception  wi'h  a  c  '•elessness  which 
justifies  Dr.  Ashmore's  vigorous  reply  that  it  "  makes  Christ  the 
KtAor  of  hcathemsm  as  He  is  of  dmstianfty  .  .  .  Accor^Baf 
to  that,  God,  who  was  receiving  with  compi  ance  the  sweet  ,mell 
that  rose  from  the  camp  in  the  wilderness,  was,  at  the  same  tim^, 
beholding  with  pleasure  the  sacrifices  of  Moloch  in  the  valley 
of  the  son  of  Hinnom.   The  same  holy  Spirit  that  was  moving 
Elijah  on  one  side  of  Carmel  to  declare  that  Jehovah  .  ic  s 
God,  was  at  the  same  time  impelling  the  priests  of  Baal  to  gasti 
tfMBselves  witfi  knives  and  dednv  dmt  Bui  ht  n  God  on 
the  other  side  of  the  plain.  .  .  .  Because  there  a  e  some  virtues 
woven  into  heathenism,  it  does  not  follow  that  God  made 
beatheoisni.   God  made  gold,  but  He  did  not  work  it  up  into 
ffisvoi  images.    God  made  grain,  but  He  did  not  nake  it  into 
whiskey.   G  ;l  made  the  natural  virtues,  but  He  (li<i  not  organise 
them  into  Confucian  and  Shintu  systems  of  ancestor  worship 
and  Wmg  worship."   Undoubtedly,  God  hu  not  forsdcen  uiy 
part  of  this  world,  and  He  has  been  educating  mar  kind,  but 
that  does  not  entitle  us  to  charge  to  Him  all  tha»  nas  found 
a  place  in  the  life  and  thought  of  men.  We  are  bouno  to  exempt 
God  from  responsibility  for  whatever  is  a»n^  iliii  1  n  iiw<  wMl 
His  character.   The  problem  of  the  divine  educatic;  of  the  hu- 
man race  is  still  unsolved  (Fabek,  "  The  Science  of  Chinese 
Rdigirat,"  p.  149),  and  wiui  we  have  to  deai  wifii  o^y  are 
the  simple  facts  of  the  worid.   What  religions  are  .  uially  ac- 
quainting men  with  the  character  of  God  to-d^  ad 


CHRISTIAI^'ITV  AND  NON-CU&ISTIAN  KEUGIONS  asi 


tiMn  MM  ui  God  and  brmginf  §orA  the  fnitts  of  the  Spirit 
of  God?  This  is  our  pnctk  .  x^  -tnAoa. 

4.  A  fourth  view  of  tl  world's  religkms,  including  Chris- 
tianity, reduces  them  aU  to  mere  ethnic  stq)entitions,  vdiidi 

humanity  she  .Id  ou'tow,  an<  upon  whose  decay  the  hope  of 
human  prepress  rests.  Vair  xry  asserts  that  the  decline  of 
the  Mohamanedan  world  was  due  \o  it  Jevotion  to  religion, 
and  thstf  the  p-ogres^  uf  Japan  t«  hw  to  its  reptidiation  of 

The  evil  nmh^  of  die  exi^tife  ^t  hip  behveen  Churdi 
and  State  are  now  ginning  t*.  r  mm  the  ohammedans 
themselves.  !e:  led  ^  irom  It  a  writ,  me  on  this 
subject  is  I  ,  '  Th=  irch  and  State  hav  been  allies 
in  Chri  an  iroo  ami  th  .d^cction  of  the  people  has  been 
the  pol:  of  hf  th  What  me  condition  of  priest-ridden  conn- 
tries  lik  Spai;  is  that  the  mollahs  are  the  allies  of 
the  tyrannical  los  sr  But,  fortunately,  there  is  no 
pn  hood  ii  .aiam  .it  Europe  can  become  civiUsed  and 
pogressive  ii  spite  of  .  c  absurd  dogmas  of  Christianity,  there 
n  every  ^  of  r«fen  ^^^tioa  and  renussance  of  Moslem  A^ 
far  &e  dO(.  s  of  i  'ai  e  less  ateurd  and  less  rigid  than  tho^ 
of  Chnstiat.../.  Th  jic^  ticMMen  Church  and  State  resti 
in  lai  mer^y  c  ^  :t  of  vioicaee  wUdi  ha*  to  be  removed 
firs?  of  aU." 

That  we  are         n  attrAoting  the  dedhw  of  the  Islamic 

world  to  -he  tyr  tu  jtnd  the  overmastering  power  of  religion 
be  I  prov?*''  1^  th  narvellous  advance  made  by  Japan.  When 
the  Japane  althc  ^h  in  many  social  and  poUtical  points  pre- 
fer Si  a  erriy  Asiatic  character,  have,  as  by  the  act  of  a 
Dems  '  n.  imm,  become  Europeanised ;  l»ve  accepted  our 
^aenet  ur  a  ■■,  our  form  of  government,  nn  J  our  manner  of 
tk}  ^  thn  '  use  they  were  indifferent  in  matters  of 
reli  iSB-  -m  practically  atheists.  The  national  religion, 

S'^ttoisis,  n  &  a  religion  at  all,  but  merely  an  raotheosis  of 
heroes,  idngs,  an(  estor<«,  and  tiie  powers  of  Nature  ctm^ting  in 
the  precept,  "  Follow  thy  natural  inclination,  and  obey  the  com- 
muidments."  The  Japanese  who  is  at  all  educated  laughs  at 
religion  in  general  and  wonders  how  it  can  continue  in  Western 
lands.  The  spirit  of  liberalism  whkh  prevails  in  Japan  excludes 
all  possibility  of  despotism.  The  present  Emperor,  Mutsuhito, 
was  in  no  way  restricted  when  in  1888  he  gave  his  pcqpla  a 


25a        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


constitution.  No  Divine  conunand,  no  prophetic  word,  prevented 
him  from  accepting  or  imitating  tiie  good  he  found  in  the  ad- 
ministrations of  Western  lands.  The  Japanese  recognise  no 
Kafirs  and  no  heathen,  whom  it  is  their  duty  to  hate  and  to 
despise,  as  is  the  case  amongst  pious  Christians  and  Mussuhnans. 
In  the  same  proportion  as  he  keeps  at  a  safe  distance  from  the 
narrow  world  of  faith,  he  is  able  to  get  nearer  to  the  light  of 
liberty  and  progress.  The  latest  history  of  Japan  contains  a 
solemn  word  of  warning  for  all  Islamic  nations. 

India  is  reading  history  in  the  same  way.  A  writer  in  the 
Kayastha  Samaekar  calls  upon  his  countrymen  to  learn  the  lesson 
that  religion  has  ceased  to  influence  politics  outside  the  Islamic 
world,  and  that  Japan's  regeneration  has  been  effected  by  states- 
men  and  not  by  priests;  that  if  we  want  to  rise  in  the  scale 
of  nati<ms  we  must  discard  the  thousand  castes  and  creeds 
which  are  raising  their  hydra  heads  around  us  everywhere  and 
adopt  the  one  comprehensive  eternal  religion  of  Fatherland. 
(Kayastha  Samachar,  August,  1902,  p.  136;  Art  "  The  Japanese 
Renaissance.")  "The  Americans,"  says  a  Hindu  writer,  "are 
the  most  progressive  nation,  and  have  in  some  respects  left  the 
European  nations  behind,  because  they  have  not  been  hampered 
with  religion.  .  .  .  Religious  superstition  has  been  the  curse  of 
India."— (7/ie  Forum,  September,  1894,  p.  95;  Art.  by  ViR- 
CHAND  F.  Gandhi,  "  Home  Life  in  India.")  In  too  many  lands 
the  superficial  comparison  of  religions  is  leading  men  to  discard 
all  religion  and  to  lose  the  religious  sentiment. 

5.  A  more  common  view  is  that  all  religions  are  funda- 
mentally the  same.  Leaders  of  the  non-Christian  religions  have 
taken  up  this  positioa.  It  was  authoritatively  exi»essed  in  a 
careful  statement  addressed  to  "our  revered  ecclesiastical 
brethren  in  the  world  "  by  the  heads  of  the  six  sects  allied  in 
the  "  Great  Japan  Buddhists'  Unkm  "  in  the  year  1900.  "  It 
is,  indeed,  certain,"  said  these  leaders  of  Japanese  Buddhism, 
"  that  t!je  forms  of  religion  in  the  world  are  manifold.  But  it 
is  equally  cerUin  that  in  spite  of  the  dissimilarity  of  religions 
in  their  tenets,  «§  wdl  at  in  ritea— in  short,  in  tiieir  exttml 
organisation — the  fundamental  principles  embodied  in  what  we 
r^rd  as  the  higher  classes  of  religimi,  to  say  nothing  of  thost 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RlBUGIONS  as3 


which  still  remain  undeveltqied,  are  in  aU  cases  essentkify,  if 
not  entirely,  analagous."— (Report  of  Eighth  Conference  of  For- 
eign Mission  Boards  of  United  Sutes  and  Canada,  1901,  p.  77.) 
This  is  iK>w  a  very  conumm  view,  both  in  tiie  East  and  tiM 
West.  Natural  religion  is  assumed  to  be  all  that  is  really  essen- 
tial, and  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  this  is  the  fundamental 
thing  in  ench  of  the  great  religions  entering  into  our  comparison. 
But  this  asbumption  is  erroneous.  (See  (jOuh,  "  The  Stqqwsed 
and  Real  Doctrines  of  Hinduism,  as  held  by  educated  Hindus, 
with  the  True  Source  of  the  Former.").    Natural  religion  is 
not  tiie  common  substance  of  all  these  rel^[tons.  Hinduism 
"denies  the  very  existence  of  natural  rdtgkxi."   Logically,  as 
Dr.  Kellogg  points  out,  it  does  away  with  morality  entirely, 
because:  (i)  It  mak^s  God  the  author  equally  of  sin  and 
r^teooness,  tnttii  and  Msdiood.    (a)  Becuse  it  regards 
existence  in  the  world  as  an  evil  :onsequent  upon  a  life  of 
virtue,  no  less  than  a  life  of  vice.  All  actions  are,  therefore,  alike 
evil.  (3)  It  destroys  all  hunum  responsibility,  in  that  it  affirms 
that  in  all  things  man  acts,  not  freely,  but  under  tiie  oomptibion 
of  an  inevitable  necessity.    (Kellogg,  "  Hinduism,"  a  sermon, 
Mirzapore  Orphan  School  Press,  1876,  p.  17.)    What  is  com- 
mon to  all  tile  rdigions  of  tiie  worid  is  simply  the  religious 
sentiment,  with  its  evidence  of  the  deep  religious  needs  of  men. 
There  is  no  common  idea  of  God  or  of  morals,  of  sin  or  of 
righteousness,  of  man,  or  of  truth.   "  The  non-essential  parts 
of  religions  differ,  but  the  essentials  agree,"  says  a  Hiadn  i^olo* 
gist.  "  What  are  the  essentials?"  he  asks,  and  answers,  "  Self- 
control  and  self-knowledge."   But  all  religions  do  not  agree  in 
this  point,  and  even  if  they  did  verbally,  they  do  not  agree  as 
to  what  the  "  self  "  is,  or  how  it  is  to  be  controlled,  or  for  what 
purpose,  or  what  it  can  know,  or  what  knowledge  is.   The  re- 
ligions of  the  world  do  not  even  agree  as  to  what  religion  is, 
or  what  the  world  is,  and  some  of  tfiem  afirm  that  nottfa^ 
is,  or  that  the  end  of  life  is  that  nothing  should  be.  The  only 
point  in  which  the  religions  of  the  world  are  agreed  is  that 
men  aaad  a  laUgioa,  althoitgh  Sit^MlcM  Bnddhiam  denies  even 
this,  tett  aa  to  wiiat  it  laaaal  bf  nHgioa.  and  wh^  Hm  nligiMi 


354        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


should  be,  and  where  it  is  to  be  found,  and  what  use  is  to  be 
made  of  it,  they  are  not  agreed.  The  religions  of  the  world,  in 
a  word,  start  Trom  tiie  same  point  in  response  to  the  same  deep 
human  need.  That  is  all.  They  travel  nowhither  all  togelQm. 

6.  Still  another  view,  differing  from  those  we  have  con- 
sidered, is  that  what  each  religion  needs  is  simply  to  modify 
itself  in  accordance  with  the  new  requiremchts  of  life,  borrow- 
ing from  other  religions  what  elements  it  may  need,  but  that 
it  should  not  consider  conversion  or  surrender  to  any  other  re- 
ligion. We  behold  to-day  the  great  non-Christian  religions 
undergoing  this  transformation  and  taking  this  attitude.  The  old 
idea  that  the  non-Christian  religions  were  immovable,  and  that 
the  work  of  Christian  missions  beat  upon  them  with  impotent 
futiltty,  l»s  had  to  be  given  up.  "The  ancient  faitiis,"  said 
tiw  late  Dr.  Cuthbert  Hall  upon  his  last  return  from  India, 
"are  in  process  of  readjustment  to  new  conditions,  and  are 
assimilating  religious  ebments  of  Western  thought,  and  using 
the  product  thus  asrinulated  as  a  means  of  Mif-deUnem  against 
Christianity." — (New  York  Observer,  October  21,  1907.)  Mr. 
Slater  in  "  The  Higher  Hinduism "  has  described  for  us  the 
changes  which  are  taking  place  in  Hinduism  in  this  way,  holding 
as  a  Christian  man  must  to  the  most  hopeful  view  of  the  out- 
come, while  he  yet  foresees  tfie  increased  <Ufficulties  whidi  tlit 
transformation  is  to  bring. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  "  HiaAi  rtvival "  and  all  the  present 
restlessness  and  ill-feeling  towards  Christianity,  is  the  patriotfe 
desire  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  Bharata  luunda,  the  andcnt 
land  of  spirituality.  As  formerly  in  Japan,  so  in  India  now, 
Christianity  and  Christians  are  chiefly  disliked  because  these 
terms  appear  to  be  synonymous  with  whatever  is  opposed  to  the 
honour  and  independence  of  the  nation.  Every  movement  in 
India  that  would  insure  succcm  must  ally  itself  with  diis  senti- 
ment of  nationality ;  hence  the  greater  success  of  the  Arya  Samaj 
movement,  which  is  based  on  Indian  lines,  than  of  the  Brahmo 
Samaj,  which  owes  its  origin  mainly  to  Christianity.  .  .  . 

And  here  we  may  note  a  ^gnifieant  fact  in  wbidi  the  iidiarait 
wwnwss  oi  mnainin  u  wscwiM.  ii  n  nou  lo  ow  rtvivu 
of  tht  national  faift  in  ngud  to  rd^ion,  it  yet  ImA»  to  tk§ 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHUSTIAN  KEUQIONS  ass 

West  for  its  social  and  political  ideals.  In  this  strange  diver- 
ftnce  it  confesses  its  utter  weakness  as  a  sodal  furce;  uat  there 
IS  nothing  in  its  ancient  institutions  to  revive  which  win  fit  tfie 
nation  for  its  keen  struggle  for  existence;  but  that  for  the 
elaboration  of  a  better  order  of  society  it  must  look  outside 
itself.  This  severance  of  religion  from  sociology,  this  fatlufe  of 
Hinduism  as  a  reforming  agency,  a  rorenerator  of  societ>,  an 
instroment  of  progress,  rcbt  it  of  half  its*  strei^,  and  en- 
courages the  Christian  advocate  to  hope  that,  %s  the  thoughtful 
men  of  India  come  to  study  the  sociological  results  of  Christ's 
religion  in  the  West,  and  see  it  to  be  the  pioneer  of  all  true 
progress,  the  only  effective  agency  in  destroying  the  old  evils, 
tiiey  may  be  led  to  pay  a  deeper  respect  to  its  underlying  and 
distmctive  truths.  Applied  Christianity  is  now  the  demand  of 
the  Western  world,  and  possibly  the  great  Indian  nation,  bom 
to  new  life  in  the  present  age.  nMy  find  a  way  to  Christ  ttrottgh 
tne  social  and  political  avenues  of  our  time.  .  .  . 

The  fact  is  mat,  tiiough  a  new  spirit  is  abroad  working  under 
the  old  forms  of  Hinduism,  whose  ethics  are  gradually  being 
penetrated  and  transformed  by  the  ideals  of  the  West,  this 
movement  is  not  so  much  the  remit  of  an  honest  convictioii  of 
the  loundncs  of  either  the  dogmas  or  the  institutions  of  Hindu- 
JPf*!*^  attempt  to  harmonise  its  higher  ideals  with 
those  of  Chnsttamty,  which  are  seen  to  be  everywhere  gaining 
ground  in  the  world.  It  bears  certain  resemUancet  to  Oe  pre- 
taisions  of  the  Gnostics  of  Alexandria  in  the  second  century 
who  held  the  key  to  the  higher  spiritual  philosophy,  vHdch  •!» 
tempted  to  unify  Christ's  teaching  with  the  esoteric  wisdom  of 
Greece  and  Egypt.  The  leaven  of  Christianity  will  woric,  and 
in  Its  own  way,  and  in  its  natural  affinity  with  certain  pre-cidsting 
conditions  of  thought  will  form  semi-Christianised  pMkMopMn 
like  the  neo-Katonism  of  Alexandria,  which  explained  away  the 
obj'..iionable  features  of  the  old  mythology,  and  tried  to  fight 
Christianity  largely  with  its  own  weapons;  and  those  eclectic 
systems  will,  for  a  time  at  least,  give  a  distinct  support  to  the 
old  relwiMu  of  the  country,  and  even  infnse  new  life  into  tiiem. 
gmc^dbjt  inar.  fcatum  of  tbt  Gospel  tho««|i  aoo-OHlitiMi  Is 

Mr.  Mai  .r  has  observed:  "The  New  Testament  is  the 
source  of  a  uundred  developments  of  penonaL  lodaL  nd 
•pigual  reform  among  dwiwhtful  Htedm>  And.  inWmon 
$i»f  l»e  wrote:  "  Christ  is  a  tremendous  reality.  The 

iSSii  to  *****  ^  «olution  of  His  nature  and  our 


256        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


And.  speakinff  generally,  in  all  recent  religious  reforms,  the 
Vedic  idea  has  fieoi  modified  by  Biblical  thasm  and  Christian 
thought,  as  was  seen  in  the  history  of  Brahmoism  itself  as  far 
back  as  1854,  when  it  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  frame  its  advanced  creed  upon  the  Vedas  and  Upani- 
shads.  And  in  other  directions,  not  excepting  the  revived  Ve- 
danta  of  the  present  day,  those  who  m  India  have  not  studied 
the  Bible  for  naught  are  reading  Christianity  into  Hinduism, 
and  finding  there,  under  its  light,  truths  that  were  never  found 
before,  instead  of  saying,  as  they  did  twenty  years  ago.  of  our 
religion,  "  It  is  not  true,^'  they  are  now  saying,  "  It  is  not  new." 
Tending  more  and  more  to  Ae  belief  in  tiie  underlying  unity 
of  all  religions,  they  are  maintaining  that  the  faiths  of  the  East 
do  not  differ  materially  from  Christianity  in  their  essential  prin- 
ciples and  more  important  teachings,  and  so,  even  in  reform 
speeches,  and  on  the  National  CoiM;ress  platforms,  as  wdl  as 
in  Vedantk  pamphlets,  not  to  speak  of  Brahmist  services  and 
prayers,  there  are  frequent  allusions  to  the  Christian  Scriptures, 
together  with  a  more  or  less  Christian  colour  pervading  the 
thou^t.  To  the  assimilative  mind  of  India,  there  is  no  difficulty 
in  this  placing  Christian  thought  in  the  midst  of  Hinduism,  and 
regarding  it  as  a  part  thereof.  We  may  rest  assured  that  tfie 
truth  thus  absorbed  will  live,  and  will  ultimately  displace  the 
thoughts  and  ideas  that  have  ceased  to  thrill  with  life.— (Slates, 
"  The  Higher  Hindttitm,"  pp.  14.33.) 

But  there  are  those  who  do  not  anticipate  such  an  outcome, 
but  who  r^rd  the  natural  result  of  all  tin  present  stir  of  re- 
ligious thought  throughout  the  world  to  be  not  the  conquest  of 
the  world  by  Christianity,  but  the  permanence  of  the  world's 
present  religions  modified  to  admit  some  portion  of  Christian 
philosophy  and  ctMcs.  They  would  bold  tiiit  also  to  be  tlw 
desirable  result,  on  the  ground  that  no  new  faith  or  religioitt 
principles  can  possibly  fill  the  function  of  the  old.  "  It  is  cer- 
tafaily  true,"  says  one,  "that  human  nature  is  so  constituted 
that  when  a  mtn's  religious  ideals  are  once  disturbed,  those 
by  which  they  may  be  replaced  are  likely  to  be  so  insecurely 
rooted  as  to  have  little  determining  effect  upon  his  character 
or  futare  career."-~<  Interview  In  Ae  New  York  Evening  Post, 
July  aa,  1905.)  And  so  also  a  correspondent  in  the  Scotsuum 
tells  us:  "  Thinking  men  have  long  been  agreed,  tiiat  it  amot  bt 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON^HRISTIAN  REUGIONS  ajy 

claimed  for  any  organised  faith  that  it  is  essential  to  human 
salvation.  The  chief  end  of  the  ideal  missionary  cannot  be  to 
proselytise,  bat  to  vivify  truth  idwrever  he  finds  it,  and  inspire 
men  with  a  love  of  goodness,  leaving  it  to  them  to  decide  whettwr 
they  should  quit  the  ancestral  house  of  faith  in  which  they  have 
dwelt.  To  some  it  will  appear  necessary  to  quit  it;  to  others 
it  may  seen  needful  to  remain.  The  non-Christian  faiths  are 
neither  an  accident  nor  a  moof^tosify.  They  contain  nutriment 
for  such  inner  life  as  their  votaries  are  capable  of,  though,  like 
Ae  dress  and  food  of  lower  races,  they  have  elements  which 
qipear  incongruous  and  repugnant  to  us.  Thdr  difference  from 
our  own  faith  makes  it  easy  for  us  to  misjudge  them.  For 
a  man  to  accept  a  new  creed  and  a  strange  terminology,  and 
uae  tiiete  so  tiiat  his  personal  quality  shall  be  improved,  is  a 
work  of  such  intellectual  difficulty  that  we  need  not  be  sttr> 
prised  if  many  shrink  from  it,  and  prefer  to  seek  goodness  by 
ruder  instruments  which  are  familiar  to  them.  From  this  and 
other  reasons,  proselytim  has  its  limits  in  any  misrion  fidd."— 
(Quoted  in  Indian  Witness,  June  13,  1896.) 

7.  Yet  once  more  we  are  told  that  the  indisputable  result 
of  modern  thought  upon  Christianity  and  the  non-Christian  re- 
ligions is  to  make  it  impossible  any  longer  to  rtfurd  Christianity 
AS  the  absolute  religion,  and  unwise  to  speak  of  it  more  con- 
fidently than  as  "  better  "  than  the  non-Christian  religions,  and 
many  add  that  the  final  reUgion  is  only  to  be  reached  when  all 
the  religi(nis  of  the  world  have  been  fused  into  one,  each  making 
its  own  distinctive  contribution,  and  humanity  working  out  the 
ultimate  result  only  by  the  patient  evolution  of  life.  The  florid 
Oriental  form  of  this  view  was  poured  forfli  by  Swami  Vb** 
kananda  at  the  Pariiament  of  Religions  in  Chicago  in  1903: 
"If  there  is  ever  to  be  a  universal  religion,  it  must  be  that 
one  which  wffl  have  no  location  in  place  or  time;  which  wiU 
be  infinite  like  the  God  it  will  reach;  whose  sun  will  sMat 
upon  the  foUowers  of  Krishna  and  Christ,  saints  or  sinners 
alike;  whidi  will  not  be  the  Brahmans'  or  the  BuddhisU',  the 
Christiana'  or  the  Mohammedans'  rtfgioa,  but  •iii»toM  of 
•B  Umm^  tad  still  btm  bM»  ipMt  Ibr  dmIopmBt;  iHMl 


258        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

in  its  catholicity  will  embrace  in  its  infinite  aims  and  find  a 
place  for  every  human  being,  from  the  lowest  grovelling  man 
not  far  removed  from  the  brute,  to  the  h^^t  man  toweiiag 
by  the  virtues  of  his  heart  and  mind  almost  above  humanity 
and  making  society  stand  in  awe  of  him  and  doubt  his  human 
nature,"  The  Swamt  made  room  for  caste  in  his  dream.  The 
calm  Western  view  is  stated  in  Mr.  Scott's  little  book  on  "  The 
Apologetic  of  the  New  Testament":  "It  has  become  nec- 
essary to  defend,  not  only  the  Gospel  itself,  but  those  very 
foundations  of  all  rdigion  whidi  die  writers  of  our  New  Testa- 
ment could  assume  as  unquestionable.  Hardly  less  serious  are 
the  diflSculties  which  have  been  brought  into  prominence  by  the 
stmfy  of  comparative  rdigion.  Christianity,  it  would  appear, 
must  abandon  its  claim  to  a  unique  inspiration.  Its  genesis  in 
history  can  be  in  large  measure  traced;  the  elements  that  have 
gone  to  the  moulding  of  it  can  be  ascertained  and  separated; 
it  stands  no  as  a  solitary  peak,  tmt  only  as  c..e  summit 

in  a  vast  formation.  '  This  view  is  the  inspiring  principle  of 
the  interesting  but  unimportant  propaganda  of  Behaism  in  the 
West,  and  it  is  the  commonly  accepted  principle  of  the  new 
"  Science  of  Religion."  At  the  special  confcience  in  Umodm 
some  eight  or  nine  years  ago,  attended  by  many  of  the  most 
prominent  university  professors  and  theologians  from  all  over 
Germany,  and  called  to  discuss  the  comparative  study  of 
Christianity  as  one  of  the  world's  religions,  the  leading  paper 
by  Professor  Troeltsch  of  the  University  of  Heidelberg  set 
forth,  among  a  number  of  propositions,  these:  that  there  are 
gndatkms  between  the  great  reHgknis  forces;  that  in  the  va- 
rious personalities  and  phenomena  of  history  there  is  a  gradual 
unfolding  of  the  revelation  of  the  transcendental  forces  be- 
hind all  history,  which  in  these  personalities  and  phenomena 
brings  us  nearer  to  the  transcendental  absohitc;  that  Chri*- 
tianity,  judged  from  this  point  of  view,  shows  itself  the  highest 
stage  of  religious  development,  and  in  principle  superior  to 
all  other  forms  of  religion,  but  nevertheless  as  a  phenomenon 
subject  to  the  historical  laws  of  growth;  tiiat  all  odier  bdieft 
M  to  Christttnity,  such  as  the  ooovktioo  tot  Christfayii^  wffl 


CHRISTIANITy  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  REUGIONS  *S9 

be  invincible,  are  purely  a  matter  of  penoaal  faiA  and  not  tfic 

subject  of  scientific  certainty.  At  the  same  conference  Dr.  Max 
Christlieb  discussed  mission  work  as  affected  by  this  denial  of 
die  absdttteness  of  Chrtsttamty,  and  these  were  his  leading 
fHTopositkns : 

1.  Our  knowledge  of  non-Christian  religions  has  become 
much  greater  in  recent  decades  than  it  was  before.  One  of  the 
results  of  this  growth  in  knowledge  is  the  general  conviction 
that  the  absoluteness  of  Christianity  can  no  longer  be  claimed. 
This  new  knowledge  must  influence  mission  problems  and  meth- 
ods  of  work. 

2.  The  relative  merits  or  demerits  of  a  religion  are  to  be 
judged  by  its  fruits.  This  principle  must  obtain,  also,  in  the 
judgment  of  Christianity. 

3.  The  proposition  that  "  everything  in  heathendom  is  false  " 
can  no  longer  be  maintained,  in  view  of  the  fmtt  timt  tiiese  systems 
omtain  so  much  that  agrees  with  Christianity. 

4.  On  the  other  hand,  the  recognition  of  the  good  elements 
m  the  heathen  rd^ioas  amy  mmt  in  a  danfmoa  nractiad 
syncretism. 

5.  The  proposition  that  "  everything  in  Oiristlanity  is  trae" 
am  no  ioager  be  maintained.  The  fact  that  certain  leading  doc- 
tnnes  of  older  Christian  creeds,  such  as  the  eternal  condemnation 
of  the  unbaptised,  the  historical  character  of  the  story  of  crea- 
tion, the  personality  and  activity  of  the  devil,  have  been  generally 
discarded  by  Christian  thinkers  themselves,  has  alrea<&  led  to 
a  diffwait  attitude  in  principle  toward  the  heathen  races. 

°*  «       ^  doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration  has  been 

generally  discarded  has  led  to  the  following  changes  in  the 
mission  field:  (a)  The  missionary  has  lost  the  sumwrt  of  abso- 
lute authority;  (b)  Liberal  theology  murt  be  tat^in  nusskm 
mstitutions:  (c)  AU  problems  of  modem  re^ioiM  life  racaba  a 
dinerent  importance. 

7.  Since  the  absoluteness  of  Christianity  cannot  be  demon- 
^ted,  but  only  the  fact  that  it  is  reUtively  the  highest  of 
religions,  we  need,  and  those  engaged  in  ndssiott  work  also  need, 
agreater  faith  than  ever  before.— (TrwMlalwl  b  r*#  LUtrmi 
Digtsi  of  December  38,  1901.)  ^ 

Now  the  question  of  the  absoluteness  of  Christianity  may, 
after  att,  be  not  mudi  more  than  a  controversy  over  words! 
At  any  rate,  we  can  leave  it  for  tlioee  who  have  leistsre  for  it 


afo        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

The  practical  problem  of  the  missionary  enterprise  is  this,  Does 
the  actual  comparison  of  Christianity  with  the  non-Christian 
religions,  necessitated  by  die  work  of  nmsicms,  show  that  tet 
work  is  unnecessary  or  dissolve  the  missionary  duty  or  nuUsfy 
its  aim?  What  does  the  missionary  movement  beUeve  th»t  H 
finds  as  a  result  of  that  study  of  comparative  religion  which  is 
its  daily  business? 

1.  We  find,  first  of  all,  that  men  everywhere  are  made  for 
religion,  that  there  is  in  humanity  a  deep  hunger  after  some- 
thing from  widiout  humanity,  tiiat  in  spite  of  all  Aat  has  ob- 
structed His  way  and  distorted  His  word,  God  has  been  seeking 
men.  What  Jesus  told  the  woman  of  Samaria  we  find  evidenced 
in  every  nation,  that  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  that  those  who  wor- 
ship Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  truth,  and  tiiat  tht 
Father  is  seeking  such  to  worship  Him. 

2.  We  find  when  we  come  with  Christianity  to  the  other 
religions  of  the  world,  and  place  Christianity  in  oomparison 
with  them,  that  Christianity  has  all  the  good  of  other  religions. 
There  is  good  and  truth  in  these  religions  which  we  joyfully 
acknowledge,  which  has  enabled  them  to  survive  and  given  them 
tfidr  power,  bat  there  is  no  truA  or  good  in  them  which  is  net 
found  in  a  purer  and  fuller  form  in  Christianity.  Hinduism 
teaches  the  immanence  of  God;  Mohammedanism  the  sov- 
ereignty of  God ;  Buddhism  the  transitoriness  and  yet  tiie  sdeam 
issnet  of  our  present  life;  Confucknism  the  dignit}*  of  our 
earthly  relationships  and  of  human  society.  But  are  not  all 
these  truths  in  Christianity  also?  It  is  so  with  whatever  of 
good  we  find  ai^where.  To  ctn^ilete  a  somwt,  from  wMdi  I 
have  already  qtw^: 

We  with  reverent  minds  searching  the  lore 
Of  ancient  days,  find  buried  here  and  there 
Fragments  of  precious  truths  and,  piecitw  tiiem 
A^n  with  reverent  minds,  construct  a  Form 
And  Boo>  of  the  Truth— when  lol  the  whole 
Grows  to  the  Iflnness  of  oar  own  dear  Christ 

There  is  no  truth  anywhere  which  is  not  already  in  Christ, 
and  in  Christ  in  its  fullest  and  richest  form.  Even  the  tiaaa- 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  361 

formed  Hinduism  of  the  Vedanta  offers  only  portions  of  what 
we  already  have  in  Him.  As  Mr.  Slater  says :  "  The  Christian 
Goq)d  offers  all  that  tlie  Vedanta  offers,  and  infinitdy  more. 
So  true  is  it  that  every  previous  revelation  flows  into  the  revela- 
tion we  have  in  Christ,  and  loses  itself  in  Him.  Christ  includes 
all  teachers.  All  'other  masters'  are  in  Christ  We  do  not 
deny  the  truths  they  taught;  we  can  ddig^  in  alL  We  can 
gfive  heed  to  all  the  prophets ;  but  every  trutn  in  every  prophet 
melts  into  the  truth  we  have  in  Christ  And  Christ 
tells  us  that  life,  not  deatii,  is  what  our  souls  are  made 
for.  That  is  His  distinctive  message  to  the  non-Christian  world. 
To  be  made  one  with  the  divine,  '  not  in  the  dull  abyss  of 
characterless  nonentity,  lapsing  from  the  personal  down  to 
the  impersonal,  from  tiie  animate  to  the  inanimate,  from 
the  self  back  to  the  mere  thing';  but  in  the  reciprocal  em- 
brace of  conscious  love,  mutually  realised  and  enjoyed — that 
is  the  true  and  highest  Uiakti-yoga — knowing  even  as  we  are 
known." 

And  not  only  are  all  the  truths  of  the  other  religions  in 
Christianity,  but  they  are  there  balanced  and  corrected  as  they 
are  not  in  tiie  non-Christian  religions.  Hinduism  teaches  ^tmt 
God  is  near,  but  it  forgets  that  He  is  holy.  Mohammedanism 
teaches  that  God  is  great,  but  forgets  that  He  is  loving.  It 
knows  that  He  is  a  king,  but  not  that  He  is  a  father.  Bud- 
dhism teadws  tiiat  this  aartidy  life  is  fleetiiv,  hot  it  forfels 
that  God  sent  us  to  do  work,  and  that  we  must  do  it  while  it 
is  day.  Confucianism  teaches  that  we  live  in  the  midst  of  a 
great  framework  of  sacred  r^tiondiips,  hot  it  forfeti  that  in 
the  midst  of  these  we  have  a  living  help  and  a  personal  UtOam- 
ship  with  the  eternal  God,  in  whose  lasting  presence  is  our  home. 
What  the  other  religions  fotiget  or  never  knew,  Christianity 
tails  Qt  m  tiw  folmss  of  its  tfuili. 

3.  We  find  that  with  whatever  good  they  may  have,  the 
non-Christian  religions  are  seamed  with  evils  from  which  Chris- 
tbnity  is  free.  How  tfiey  cane  tiiere  a  great  paraUe  of  our 
Lord  describes.  Whatever  trutii  men  know  we  kaow  h  Wt; 
wlatam  evil  umn  ^bai  tnttii,  aaodicr's. 


a6a 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


The  Sower  sowed,  and  sowing  went  His  way: 
His  seeds,  sound  grains  of  truth,  and  on  a  soil 
Rich  with  the  mclTowed  wisdom  of  the  age. 
Promising  noble  yield  of  increment, 
But  night  came  on — the  waning  aeon's  night — 
And  while  men  slept  an  envious  neighbour  came. 
Trod  in  the  Sower's  steps,  and  broadcast  threw 
Over  the  new-sown  fidds  his  evil  tares. 
And  so  withdrew. 

If  only  one  might  hope  that  he  had  withdrawn!  But  the 
harm  that  he  wrought  and  some  power  which  sustains  it  abide. 
These  are  facts  which  in  the  interest  of  truth  we  are  bound  to 
face.  For  the  truth's  sake,  and  with  joy,  we  recognise  what- 
ever of  "  true  teaching  or  high  aspiration "  we  can  find,  but 
without  disloyalty  to  the  truth  we  cannot  deny  the  tares,  we 
cannot  maintain  that  these  religions  "  have  no  materially  worse 
side,  that  they  embody  the  best  thoughts  and  the  highest  long- 
ings of  the  men  from  whom  they  proceeded,  that  their  defects 
are  only  of  deficiency  in  comparison  with  the  fuller  teaching 
of  the  Christian  creed,  and  that  they  must  no  more  be  held 
responsible  for  the  vices  which  obtain  amongst  their  followers 
than  tiie  Gospd  for  tiie  vices  of  ChristemkMU.  To  me,"  says 
BislK^  Lefroy,  from  whom  I  quote  these  words,  "  St.  Paul  is 
conclusive  on  this  point,  for,  while  never  abusing  other  faiths 
in  the  presence  of  their  followers,  rather  at  such  times  laying 
hxM  on  them  to  suggest  and  justify  his  own  teaching— he  yet 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  unmistakably  shows  what  his  view 
was  of  the  working  of  Grecian  and  Roman  mythology  as  a 
wlK)le,  tracing  all  the  fearful  social  and  political  corruption  of 
the  age  up  to  idolatry  and  false  religious  beliefs  as  the  foun- 
tain head." — (Cambridge  Mission,  Occasional  Paper,  "  Moham- 
medanism," No.  21,  p.  13!!.)  If  we  take  a  different  attitude, 
if  we  gk)ss  over  tiie  daric  facts  in  tiie  non^Thristian  rdigions, 
we  do  three  things, — we  falsify  the  facts,  we  prepare  for  a 
great  reaction  of  denunciation  and  dislike  of  the  non-Christian 
religions  when  the  truth  finds  access  to  minds  accustomed  to  a 
distorted  view,  and  we  disqualify  ourselves  for  (tealing  helpfuSy 
wiUt  the  nm-Christtan  rel^ioaa.  "For  one  and  aU  of  these. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  263 


while  their  strength  is  in  that  fragment  of  truth,  which,  how- 
ever maimed  and  distorted,  with  whatever  contradiction  and 
mider  whatever  Sagtmes,  they  hold,  have  also  that  taamoAy 
weak  side,  that  on  which  they  signally  deny  and  ignore  some 
great  truths  which  the  spirit  of  man  craves,  which  the  Scripture 
of  God  affirms,  a  side,  therefore,  on  which  "  we  need  to  know 
how  to  give  the  hearts  that  rest  in  them  the  very  help  whtdi 
they  need  and  have  not  found.  (Trench,  Hulsean  Lectures  for 
1845.   Lecture  8,  p.  117.  Quoted  by  Lefroy,  op.  cit.,  p.  14.) 

With  no  joy,  with  a  heavy  heart,  the  missionary  enterprise 
sets  down  what  it  has  fotmd  of  radical  evil  and  error  in  tiw 
non-Christian  religions. 

In  Confucianism  it  has  found  polytheism,  idolatry,  and  polyg- 
amy. The  Chinese  peofrfe  are  a  pec^  of  many  noble  quaUti^ 
but  we  are  considering  now  not  the  people  but  the  Confucian 
system.  As  Dr.  Faber  has  described  it,  it  recognises  no  rela- 
tion to  a  living  God.  Though  dimly  known,  He  is  not  the  only 
object  of  worship.  Polytiidsm  is  tatight  in  the  Classics.  Iddktrf 
is  the  natural  consequence,  and  all  the  superstitions  in  con- 
nection with  it  among  the  people  are  the  inevitable  results. 
Geomancy,  spiritualism,  exorcism,  and  aO  kinds  of  deceit  prac- 
tised by  Buddhist  and  Taoist  priests  have  their  origin  in  the 
worship  of  ancestral  spirits,  for  which  Confucianism  is  respon- 
sible, since  sacrificing  to  the  dead  is  taught  as  the  highest  filial 
duty  in  tlw  Clasncs,  and  Mendus  sanctions  potyguny  on  its 
account.  Though  the  practice  of  building  temples  to  heroes 
arose  shortly  after  the  Classical  Period,  its  roots  can  be  found 
in  tiw  Qassks,  and  there  are  now  over  100,000  such  temfdes 
in  China  to  great  warriors  and  other  men  of  eminence,  in  which 
sacrifices  are  offered  and  incense  is  burned  to  their  shades. 
Omens  and  the  choice  of  lucky  days  are  a  sacred  duty  enjoined 
by  tiie  Classics  and  enforced  by  law.  Confucbnian  not  oefy 
has  no  censure  for  polygamy,  but  sanctions  it  in  the  Qassics. 
The  misery  of  eunuchs,  secondary  wives,  slave  girls,  degrada- 
tion of  women  in  general,  are  accompaniments  of  this  vice. 
"  The  Confucian  system  did  oat  do  much  for  women.  The 
Analects  tdl  us  that  '  Wonen  are  difficult  to  mamge;  if  you 


a64        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

are  familiar  with  them,  they  are  not  humble;  if  you  keep  them 
at  a  distance,  they  become  discontented.'  And,  as  Dr.  Faber  tells 
1U,  uoauag  is  said  about  tfie  rdations  of  married  peofit.  There 
is  abundance  of  instruction  as  to  brothers,  but  sisters  are  not 
even  mentioned.  The  stress  laid  on  filial  piety,  the  worship  of 
ancestors,  makes  it  the  chief  duty  of  sons  to  procure  a  posterity 
in  order  Oat  lacrifices  may  be  continued.  Hcnee  polygamy  at 
times  becomes  an  ethical  necessity,  a  religious  duty,  and  there 
is  no  testimony  against  this  social  evil  in  the  whole  range  of 
Ounese  literature."— (China  Centenary  Conference  Report,  Ad- 
dress by  D.  L.  Anderson,  p.  47.) 

In  Confucianism  the  system  of  social  life  is  tyranny.  Women 
are  slaves.  Children  have  no  rights  in  relation  to  their  parents, 
whilst  subjects  are  placed  in  tfie  positkm  of  diildren  widi  re- 
gard to  their  superiors.  It  is  a  strict  demand  of  Confucius  m 
the  Classics  that  a  son  should  lose  no  time  in  revenging  die 
deatii  of  his  father  or  of  a  near  relation.  Blood  revenge  was 
an  ancient  usage,  but  Confucius  both  sanctioned  it  and  raised 
it  to  a  moral  duty,  poisoning  by  it  three  of  his  five  social  rela- 
tions. (Summarised  from  Faber,  "  China  in  the  Light  of  His- 
tory."  PP-  59^;  "A  SyatemaM  Dignt  of  the  Doctrines  of 
Confucius,"  pp.  124-127.)  The  Ciinese  people  are  both  better 
and  worse  than  Confucianism,  but  it  is  a  painful  and  significant 
fact,  as  Kamo  Uchimura  says  in  his  dialogues,  that  "in  all 
the  countriM  where  the  Confucian  maeality  is  in  vogue,  sexual 
crime  is  not  usually  considered  as  a  crime.  That  is  so;  and 
that  is  the  chief  reason,  I  think,  why  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  happy  home  in  tiiese  cotmtries." — (An  Anglo- Japanese  Con- 
versation, p.  48.) 

It  is  neither  necessary  nor  desirable  to  state  all  that  is 
found  of  evil  in  Hinduism,  in  comparison  with  Christianity. 
Tlw  Hindus  tiiemsehres  have  made  tiie  presentatkm  far  more 
fully  and  convincingly  than  any  missionaries  have  ever  sought 
to  make  it.  The  writings  of  Ram  Mohun  Roy  and  of  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen  are  all  tiiat  need  to  be  read.  It  must  suflke  here 
to  point  out  only  two  things,  first,  the  evil  philosophy  of  life 
which  Hinduism  furescnts  in  its  pantheism,  and  secondly, 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  a6s 


moral  fruitage  of  it.  Christianity,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of 
intellectual  unity  for  the  sake  of  moral  completeness,  maintains 
both  the  transcendence  and  the  immanence  of  God,  while  "  Htn- 
bgr  denying  His  transcendence  and  maintaining  His  im- 
totally  abandons  moral  in  favour  of  intellectual  com- 
k"— ("  Mankind  and  the  Church."  Mylne  on  "  Hindu- 
ism.**) In  a  world  where  God  is  responnUe  for  all,  and  is 
in  all,  even  in  lust  and  ''n,  and  where  all  reality  is  illusive, 
men  will  not  be  clean,  and  they  will  not  be  hopeful.  One  of 
the  most  capable  of  the  younger  leaders  of  India  has  described 
tiM  effect  of  tfttt  theory  of  Kfc  fof  vst 

To  the  Hindu  the  external  world  is  unreal  and  he  is  ever  op- 
pressed by  the  consciousness  that  behind  the  things  of  sense  is 
the  onaccn  >  /  >rld,  continually  exerting  its  influence  uixm  the  life 
of  mankind  in  ways  tiiat  are  ineiq^caUe.  The  fear  of  tiie 
unseen  and  the  delusiveness  of  the  seen  continually  haunt  him. 
His  luxuriant  imaginaticm  detects  symbolism  everywhere  and  in 
all  things,  pure  and  fool,  good  and  evB,  in  k>ve,  passion,  and 
hate.  In  this  ever-shifting  wwld  of  inipf  rianenff  tat  aoul  wan- 
ders, fimiing  temporary  abode  in  Inmtan  form  or  in  that  of  a 
lower  c  nimiu,  or  even  it  may  be  in  ,^  rock,  stone,  or  tree.  Side 
by  side  with  this  conviction  of  uic  v'.treality  of  the  world  of 
tense,  there  is  deeply  ingrained  in  t^  Htn.lu  nund  the  idea  of 
retributifm.  Tht  deeds  of  a  past  exjciei;- :  ::ound  a  ana  Humoffik 
this  present  life.  Good  and  evil  zrtiou.  whedier  done  inten- 
tionally or  inadvertently,  have  a  rct.ibutory  force,  and  a  mun 
is  continually  reaping  a  harvest  sown  in  the  unknown  and  .1- 
rcmonbered  part.  Nodiiwg  mfls  to  Mse  Us  tot,  and  thus  1  . 
rtranles  in  tat  monn  of  exiatwice.  Every  endeavour  to  extri- 
cate ntmsdf  sinks  him  even  more  deqdy  and  hopelessly.  It  is 
these  beliefs  that  are  ultinHl^  reiponaiMt:  for  deackwif 
influences  of  Hinduism. 

The  Hindu  tiieory  of  life  and  of  tlie  universe  blunts  the 
fiMT  feelings,  and  its  hopelessness  is  subversive  to  ti.;>rality  and 
truth,  and  antagonistic  to  progress  and  reform.  The  moral  prac- 
tice of  the  people  is  not  on  the  whole  very  diff'^rent  from  that 
of  Western  peoples.  The  moral  standard,  he  ever,  is  lower. 
Hinduism  hM  no  bar  of  public  opinion  at  which  tyrannous  social 
custom  and  innnoralitar  may  be  arraipied.  We  camot  fotfet 
ton  mujf  AiKHaii  rctBaOtiS  icMcrs  nave  incuicaicg  nigu  ana 


a66        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


or  even  to  condemn  moral  and  social  wrong.  The  greatest  ev9 
b  not  caste,  nor  untruthfulness,  nor  cmdty  to  the  htdiYidaa!, 
nor  inonorality.  All  these  are  symptomatic  of  a  diseased  mind. 
The  reform  needed  is  more  radical  than  to  break  down  the 
tyranny  of  caste,  prevent  child-marriage,  rescind  the  restrictions 
s^inst  widow  remarriage,  purify  the  temples  and  ennoUe  the 
worship  of  the  people.  It  is  nothing  less  than  to  give  India  a 
new  outlook  upon  the  world  and  huaaan  life. — (Datta.  "The 
Desire  of  In  Ma,"  Chapter  III.) 

This  is  Dr.  Datta's  analysis,  but  something  further  is  to  be 
said  of  the  actual  woridng  out  in  Hfe  of  tiie  moral  efltects  of 
Hindu  pantheism.  You  can  put  it  in  grand  words,  if  you  like, 
such  as  those  which  Macaulay  uses  in  the  introduction  to  his 
famous  speech  on  "  The  Gates  of  Somnauth  " :  "As  this  super- 
stition is  of  all  superstitions  the  most  irrational,  and  of  all  super- 
stitions  the  most  inelegant,  so  it  is  of  al!  superstitions  the  most 
immoral.  Emblems  of  vice  are  objects  of  public  worship.  Acts 
of  vice  are  acts  of  public  worship.  The  courtesans  are  as  nradi 
a  part  of  t'  ;  establishment  of  the  temple,  as  much  the  ministers 
of  the  gods,  as  the  priests.  Crimes  against  life,  crimes  against 
property,  are  not  only  permitted  but  enjoined  by  this  odious 
theology."  And  if  you  do  not  want  it  put  in  MacauUy's  grand 
way,  you  will  find  it  cogently  expressed  in  Mr.  Meredith  Town- 
send's  essay  on  "  The  Cor*  of  Hinduism,"  where  he  is  dealing 
especially  with  Vivdcananda's  representations  at  tiw  nM^iaiiieitt 
of  Religions.  There,  and  in  other  essays,  Mr.  Townsend,  for 
years  a  resident  of  India,  and  a  careful  student  of  its  life,  com- 
plains that  the  great  curse  of  India  is  just  what  he  says  is  the 
worst  idea  of  all  Ada,  namety,  tiiat  morality  Ims  no  immt^Ue 
basis,  but  is  deemed  by  every  man  a  fluctuating  law,  and  that 
it  is  a  characteristic  of  the  Hindu  mind  that  it  is  able  to  hold, 
and  actuaHy  does  hold,  tiie  most  diametrically  opposite  i(feas, 
as  dwugh  all  such  ideas  were  true ;  and  that  the  great  wealcneit 
in  Hinduism,  making  it  utterly  insufficient  for  the  needs  of  men, 
is  the  absolute  want  of  that  ethical  reality  which  is  one  of  the 
essential  characteristies  of  Oiristiniity,  tiie  want  of  any  vincuhm 
binding  religious  faith  to  moral  life.  This  explains  why  tiic 
holiest  city  of  India  is  so  vile.  This  ex^ains  why  it  was  neoM- 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  267 


sary  for  the  British  Government  by  statute  to  prohibit  the  ob- 
scenities of  public  religious  worship  in  India. 

In  Bud<diisin  in  our  cotnpartaoa  we  come  upon  ao  radi 
abyss.  The  evil  of  Buddhism  is  not  so  easily  located,  but  it 
is  the  more  pervasive.  To  affirm  it  will  be  to  invite  denial,  be- 
cause of  die  devdcqmients  in  Buddhism  whkfa  have  raised  up 
sdiools  which  contradict  its  fundamental  prindides.  "  It  passes," 
as  Sir  Monier  Williams  says,  "  from  apparent  atheism  and 
materialism  to  theism,  polytheism,  and  spiritualism.  It  is  under 
one  aspect  mere  pesrimisn;  tmder  anotim',  pure  philandunpy; 
under  another,  monastic  communism ;  under  another,  high  moral- 
ity; under  another,  a  variety  of  materialistic  philosophy;  under 
another,  simply  demonology;  under  another,  a  mere  farrago  of 
superstitions,  including  necromancy,  witchcraft,  idolatry,  and 
fetichism." — (Monier  Williams,  "  Buddhism,"  p.  13.)  In  the 
forms  in  which  it  presses  itself  upon  comparison  with  Chris- 
tianity in  Northern  Asia  it  is  itsdl  a  reflection  of  Christian 
thought,  and  is  dependent  for  a  knowledge  of  its  own  histmy 
largely  upon  Christian  scholars.  "  There  are  not  a  score  of  men 
in  Japan  who  can  tell  you  what  Buddhism  teaches.  In  talking 
witii  Dr.  Lloyd  of  the  Imperial  University  tiie  odier  day,"  writes 
a  young  missionary  in  Japan,  "  I  said  to  him  that  I  wanted  tc 
get  hold  of  s(xne  educated  Japanese  Buddhist  priest,  who  has 
tM>t  been  too  mudi  influenced  by  Western  ttiought,  for  fas  Ok 
way  I  hoped  to  learn  what  real  Buddhists  believed.  He  smiled 
and  then  said  he  had  thought  that  he  had  found  such  a  man. 
He  was  intelligent  and  apparently  well-versed  in  the  real  teach- 
ings of  pure  Bttd^sm,  mmI  as  he  knew  no  foieign  fa^pngt 
he  seemed  quite  promising  as  a  source  of  first-hand  information. 
Dr.  Lloyd  asked  him  many  questions  of  things  ancient  and 
modem,  and  tin  priest's  answers  seemed  quite  intelligent  and 
much  in  harmony  witfi  iriiat  Dr.  Lloyd  already  knew.  After  ttM 
various  interviews  were  over  the  priest  mentioned  as  the  au- 
thority for  his  information  the  writings  of  Rhys-Davids."  But 
bade  of  idl  tfw  modifcatiott  under  die  inSucnce  of  CSifiitfMi 
thought  pure  Buddhism  in  the  south  of  Asia  is  both  outspoken^ 
atheistic  and,  from  our  point  of  view,  «oa-reUgious. 


368 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


dhism,"  says  an  editorial  in  The  Buddhist,  the  organ  of  the 
Yomg  Men's  Buddtiist  Association  in  Colombo,  whose  first  ob- 
ject is  the  study  and  propagation  of  Baddhiffii,  "denumds  no 
belief  in  a  God,  involves  no  dogma,  and  enjoins  no  ritual.  It 
is  self-culture  based  on  self-knowledge.   In  other  words,  it  is 
Ae  ntioml  regulation  of  our  own  conduct.   Buddhism  is  that, 
and  nothing  more,  nothing  less.  ...  It  satisfies  the  needs  of 
men  from  whose  eyes  the  scales  of  superstition  have  fallen,  and 
«Hk>  need  no  supernatural  help  to  understand  and  af^redate 
what  is  good  and  true."  "  It  is  an  etymological  injustice  to  nttr 
to  Buddhism  as  a  religion,"  declares  one  of  the  leading  arti^s. 
"  To  be  a  Buddhist  is  to  be  irreligious,  to  be  unbound.  .  .  . 
To  call  BtrifBrism  a  religion  is  a  contradiction  in  terms.  Bud- 
dhism not  only  does  not  admit  the  existence  of  •  God,  it  alto 
denies  the  existence  of  a  soul"— (The  Buddhist,  July,  1907,  pp. 
309,  Jig.)   Indisputably  Buddhism  is  not  a  religi(Hi  in  the  same 
lenie  at  Christianity,  for  H  holds  as  false  what  Christianity 
r^rds  as  its  deepest  and  most  precious  goods.   Pure  Buddhism 
denies  the  personality  and  the  very  existence  of  God.   As  Dr. 
Kdlocg  has  said,  it  deliberately  "  sUmps  human  nature  as  evil, 
not  because  it  is  sinful,  bat  stnply  becMae  it  exists,  for  ti 
cxktence  is  evil     it  is  a  religion  that  pronounces  our  holiest  rt> 
lationships,  husband  and  wife,  father  and  child,  evil  relationships, 
and  that  tdls  every  man  who  imnM  attain  Nirvana  at  the  lart 
that  he  must  cut  loose  from  sudi  tilings;  a  religion  tiiat  4»> 
liberaiely  denies  the  most  necessary  convictions  of  our  minds, 
that  pronounces  our  consciousness  of  personality,  our  belief  m 
onr  possession  of  a  soul,  simple  detusions;  a  r^^ion  that  con- 
demns our  holiest  ambitions  to  eternal  punishment. 

And  in  Islam,  at  once  so  near  to  Christianity  and  so  far 
away,  we  find  wbcn  we  make  our  comparison  over  againM 
Christianity's  contrary  prindpbs,  tiie  great  tySs  of  fntiHtm. 
despotism,  polygamy,  and  slavery.  "  In  vain,"  says  Professor 
Smyth  in  his  Oxford  Lectures  on  Modem  History,  "did  he 
(Mohammed)  destroy  tiie  idob  of  Ms  countrymen  tad  «yMime 
their  faith  to  the  worship  of  the  me  true  God.  In  vain  did 
he  inculcate  con^assidn  to  the  diM«sscd,  ites  to  tiM  mmtft 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  269 


pn^ectkm  and  tenderness  to  the  widow  ard  the  orphan.  He 
antfier  aboIi::hed  nor  discountenanced  polygamy,  i  nd  the  jwo- 
fosors  of  his  faith  htm  Hm  been  kit  tke  donmtk  tyrwte  of 
one-half  of  their  own  race.  He  taught  predestination,  and  they 
have  thus  become  by  their  crude  ^>pUcation  of  his  doctrines  the 
vktfam  of  every  Batnral  (fiacMe  and  calamity.  He  practised 
intolerance,  and  they  are  thns  made  the  victims  of  the  civilised 
world.  He  permitted  the  union  of  the  regal  and  sacerdotal 
offices,  and  he  made  the  book  of  his  religion  and  legislatioa  the 
same.  AS  alteratiofli,  therefore,  ummg  the  MnhammritMit  nwat 
have  been  thought  impiety.  Last  in  the  scale  of  thinking  beings, 
they  have  exhiUted  fandlies  without  society,  subjects  without 
freedom,  governments  witiiocit  security,  and  nations  without  im- 
provement" This  is  rhetoric,  but  it  is  truth.  In  the  meet 
charitable  and  effective  apology  for  Islar  1  which  we  have  in 
English,  Mr.  Bosworth  Smith  admits  the  evil  standards  of  Islam 
as  to  woman  and  concedes  that  ttmt  are  in  Christianity  trixAt 
realmc  of  thought,  and  whole  fields  of  morals,  that  are  all  but 
outside  the  religion  of  Mohammed ;  that  Christianity  teaches  men 
ideals  of  personal  purity,  of  humility,  of  forgiveness  of  injuries, 
of  the  subjection  of  tiie  kmer  life  to  tfae  Hwimritt  of  tte  Mghv 
life,  ideals  which  are  absolutely  foreign  to  Mohammedanism; 
that  it  sets  before  men  possibilittes  of  progress  and  boundless 
devekjpment  of  Ae  mind  stKh  as  Mohammed  never  dreamed  of; 
that  in  the  various  paths  of  human  attainment  tiie  dMMieleni 
that  Oiristianity  has  developed  have  been  greater,  more  many- 
sided,  more  hdy,  than  any  of  the  chvacters  that  Islam  has  pro- 
dtioad.  Mr.  BoMtiftfi  Sori^  MwMtf  tm  to  aM  as  much  m 
this,  that  the  great  religion  for  whidi  he  is  mf(mg  die  best  that 
can  be  said  is  a  religion  that  for  i,aoo  years  has  been  sterile 
intdlectually.  And,  what  is  worse  than  that,  Mohammedanism 
is  held  by  many  wfeo  imrt  to  live  under  ito  duutow  to  be  lie  OMat 
degraded  religion,  morally,  in  the  world.  We  speak  of  it  as 
superior  to  the  other  rdigions  because  of  its  m^nothdstic  faitii, 
tm  mitncmaries  from  fodia  tdf  us  durt  tfie  aefmd  moral 
conditions  to  be  found  among  Mohammedans  there  are  $»  torrftie 
It  tiiott  to  be  ioitad  aaoif  |he  pirtNifrtr  iSMttf  ingiijliji, 


a70        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


and  the  late  Dr.  Cochran  of  Persia,  a  man  who  had  unsurpassed 
opportunities  for  seeing  the  inner  life  of  Mohammedan  men, 
me,  toward  tiie  cloie  of  his  life,  tfut  he  couhl  not  ny,  oat 
of  his  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  as  a  doctor  with  the  men 
of  Persia,  that  he  had  ever  met  one  pure-hearted  or  pure-lived 
adult  man  amn^  the  MdMomedans  of  Penna. 

It  is  not  pleasant  to  qwak  of  these  liar^gt.  We  are  not 
speaking  of  them  because  a  Christian  man  finds  any  joy  in 
denouncing  these  evils  in  the  non-Christian  religions.  We  would 
denoonce  tiwse  evils  ii  we  fo«md  tiiem  in  our  own  land;  we 
speak  no  more  harshly  about  them  in  other  lands  than  we  speak 
about  them  in  our  own.  But  we  will  not  let  the  fact  that  Uiese 
great  evils  are  cloaked  by  religious  sanctions  abroad  ccrnipd  us 
to  speak  of  diem  with  less  condemnation ;  we  will  speak  of  them 
with  more  condemnation  because  they  are  imbedded  in  the  midst 
of  those  very  forces  out  of  which  men's  whole  hope  of  holiness 
must  flow.  It  cannot  be  allowed,  as  we  would  gla^  aHow, 
that  these  evils  in  the  non-Christian  religions  are  mere  ex- 
crescences not  due  to  the  religions,  or  not  vitally  connected  with 
the  religions,  but  the  sad  contributions  of  man's  own  evil  nature 
poIhitiBS  his  rdigkms  faitfis.  For  Aese  ev%  sfwaif  out  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  non-Christian  religions  and  are  so 
interwoven  with  them  that  they  can  only  die  with  the  death  of 
the  rdigkm  or  with  sudi  radical  transformation  of  its  diaracter 
as  will  make  it  cease  to  be  itself.  It  is  only  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity which  has  led  the  non-Christian  religions  to  discover  these 
things  of  shame,  and  many  of  them  are  not  yet  and  cannot  be 
disavowed.  In  tiie  case  of  Hindtii«n  the  worst  evils  are  evils 
which  have  been  enshrined  in  the  institutions  and  sanctified  and 
perpetuated  in  the  character  of  the  gods.  When  Lord  William 
Bottinck  made  widow-burning  a  crime  the  Hindus  memorialised 
the  Government,  affirming  that  suttee  was  a  sacred  duty  and 
a  lofty  principle,  and  denouncing  the  new  legislation  as  "a 
breach  of  the  promise  that  there  should  be  no  interference  with 
i1m  rri^ious  customs  of  tiic  Hindus."  The  worst  tttcrature  of 
India  is  part  of  the  sacred  books,  and  one  of  the  moit  obscene 
festivals,  the  Holi  or  Shimga,  is  part  of  the  prescritwd  rdigiottt 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  ayi 


observance  of  the  Hindus  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
India.  "  Of  the  sacred  books,  the  Dhanun  Sindhu,  for  example," 
says  Dnyanodaiya,  "quotes  approvingly  from  the  Jotimibsmdh, 
which  says, '  of  the  fifteen  days  from  the  fifth  day  of  the  bright 
half  of  the  moon  to  the  fifth  of  the  dark  half,  ten  are  infinitely 
meritorMm.  During  tfiese  days  wood  and  cowdtu^  cakes  shodd 
be  stolen  and  kindled  either  in  or  outside  the  village,  with  fire 
stolen  from  the  house  of  a  low-caste  man.  The  king,  having 
bathed  and  purified  himself,  should  give  gifts  and  light  the  Holi 
fire.  In  the  same  way  the  people  should  spend  the  lof^  ia 
pleasures,  singing  and  dancing.  Pronouncing  obscene  words, 
they  should  walk  thrice  around  the  fire.  By  these  obscene  words 
the  rinful  goddess,  Dhunda,  will  be  satisfied.'  Here  are  two 
religious  books,  at  least,  that  af^fffove  of  this  filthy  way  of  cele- 
brating the  Shimga,  the  former  being  not  only  a  well-known 
book,  but  the  standard  reference  for  present  rites  and  ceremonies. 
The  I^Mimm  Sindhu  fnrtiwr  adds  Aat  no  sin  is  committed  bf 
these  acts  and  words.  The  philosophy  with  which  this  is  ex- 
plained is  that  the  goddess,  Dhunda,  is  a  lover  of  sin,  and  there- 
fore tiie  appeadiv  of  her  and  the  gaining  of  her  fovour,  by 
that  which  is  unful,  must  be  right." 

And  just  as  immorality  is  the  inevitable  and  not  the  acci- 
dental consequence  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  actual 
Hiadnsni  of  the  part  and  of  its  sacred  bodes,  so  tfw  oOer 
evils  which  we  have  considered  stand  essentially  and  inseparably 
connected  with  the  other  religions,  which  in  their  true  historic 
diaracter  and  not  in  Christianised  form  must  enter  the  field  of 
conqiarison. 

4.  In  the  fourth  place,  we  find  not  only  that  the  non-Christian 
religions  are  marred  by  evils  from  which  Christianity  is  free, 
bat  also  diat  Oiristiairity  has  fandispensabte  ^ments  of  food 
which  they  lack.  When  with  reverent  mind  we  piece  again  the 
fragments  of  good  and  truth  found  buried  in  the  lore  of  ancient 
days  and  construct  from  them  a  Form  and  Body  of  Truth,  the 
whole  does  not  yidd  exactly  "the  likeness  of  our  own  dear 
Christ."  There  is  no  good  or  truth  that  is  not  in  Him,  but  He 
is  more  than  men  ever  dreamed.  I  would  mention  four  of  the 


an        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

many  things  in  Chriftianity  wliidi  are  wigiiial  widi  H,  and  ivlikii 

it  alone  offers  to  men. 

(1)  One  is  the  conception  of  the  fatherhood  of  God.  No 
fdirase  it  more  common  in  die  discussion  of  conqMrattve  religion 
to-day,  and  it  is  often  assumed  that  this  is  a  common  idea  of 
all  religions.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  the  revelation  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  concepticm  was  strain  to  tfie  Jews.  In  dw  prophete 
there  are  three  or  four  references  to  God  as  the  father  of  his 
people,  but  the  idea  is  of  a  political  or  national  fatherhood,  not 
of  a  personal  father.  And  in  the  Book  of  Psahns,  embodying 
tiie  religious  aspirations  and  experknces  of  Israd,  tiiere  are  only 
three  references  to  the  thought,  and  these  merely  poetical.  In 
any  one  of  the  Gk>spels  or  any  two  or  three  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles 
to  his  churches  there  is  more  of  the  Fatheitood  of  God  than 
in  the  whole  Old  Testament.  And  in  not  one  of  the  non- 
Christian  religions  does  the  rich  conception  really  qipear,  except 
as  it  has  been  learned  from  Christianity. 

(2)  Its  discovery  of  die  central  need  of  nmn  in  die  forgive- 
ness of  his  sin  and  the  destruction  of  sin's  power,  and  its  pro- 
vision for  this  need.  Because  no  other  religion  has  the  same 
idea  of  God,  no  other  religion  can  discover  the  central  need 
of  man  as  Christtanity  discovers  it,  ami,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
no  odier  religion  does.  And  none  other  knows  the  principle  of 
the  free  forgiveness  of  love  through  grace.  The  one  which  came 
in  time  after  Christianity,  and  whidi  riwold  know  more,  if  my 
can,  only  declares  in  the  verse  of  the  Koran  which  has  troubled 
many  Moslems :  "  Every  mortal  necessarily  must  once  go  to  hell ; 
it  is  obligatory  on  God  to  send  all  men  necessarily  once  to  hell ; 
and  afterwards  He  may  pardon  whom  He  will"  And  even 
when  other  religions  prescribe  what  the  sin-hardened  soul  should 
do  to  expiate  his  sins  that  are  gone,  they  have  no  word  of 
power  or  hope  for  the  deliverance  of  men  from  die  continuing 
power  of  evil.  A  young  university  student  in  Japan,  now  occupy- 
iny  an  important  position  in  the  city  of  Osaka,  who  had  been 
a  leader  among  his  fellows,  near  the  end  of  his  course  gave 
way  to  temptation.  "  After  some  time,  eager  to  regain  his  self- 
respect  and  his  lost  position,  he  sought  die  priest  of  a  famous 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  REUGIONS  m 

BtMk&tst  tenqtie.  To  him  he  told  his  troubles  and  his  longings. 
The  priest  said: '  I  can  help  you.  If  you  kneel  with  your  thumbs 
togetfier  before  the  Buddha  here,  and  remain  absolutely  motion- 
less for  three  hours,  you  will  be  given  strengtii  to  rmt/t  teaqUi* 
tion.'  The  seeker  obeyed.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  mos- 
quitoes annoyed  him  constantly,  he  knelt  as  nearly  motifsiless 
u  posnble  for  die  required  time.  Then  he  paned  ont  of 
temple — to  fall  before  his  temptation,  as  before.  For  two  yews 
he  groped  for  help,  but  in  vain,  until  he  heard  of  Christ." 

(3)  Thirdly,  it  is  Christianity  alone  which  has  introduced 
into  the  world  the  ideal  of  sacrificial  service,  Ae  ideal  which 
a  sympathetic  student  of  the  modem  Vedanta  in  India  describes, 
in  pointing  out  the  needs  of  which  it  is  conscious,  as  "  the  alien 
conception  of  service  and  of  energy."— (N.  Macnicol,  Hibbert 
Journal,  October,  1907.)  We  rejoice  to  see  this  ideal  penetrat- 
ing and  modifying  the  non-Christian  religions.  Mrs.  Besant  has 
made  the  ideal  the  basis  of  a  society  within  Hinduism,  The  Sons 
and  The  Duti^ters  of  India.  As  the  journal  of  Oe  mw  sodcty 
teUs  ut: 


This  order  consists  of  men  and  women  of  all  ages,  the  elders 
seeking  by  sympathy  and  good  counsel  to  guide  into  chann^ 
useful  to  the  country  the  eneigies  of  the  younger,  and  endeavour- 
ing to  help  them  to  tiiat  sdf^sdpUne  and  self-sacrifice  which 
alone  make  the  citizen  worthy  to  be  free.  To  tiiis  end  it  is 
sought  to  wed  practice  to  theory :  by  the  definite  and  daily  ren- 
dering of  service,  thus  building  the  habit  of  helpfulness  by 
awakoiing  the  desire  to  be  usef id  and  sumesting  channels  along 
whidi  timt  desire  may  realise  itsdf  in  amon ;  w  cultivating  the 
sense  of  dutv  and  responsibility,  without  which  Liberty  bccomaa 
a  danger  alike  to  the  individual  and  the  State.  .  .  . 

The  following  is  the  Pledge  of  the  Order,  to  be  taken  in  a 
duly  constituted  Lodge,  presided  over  by  the  renxmsiUe  member 
of  the  Chapter,  or  by  a  Warden  anxmted  by  him  for  the  pur- 
pose: 

"  I  promise  to  treat  as  Brothers  Indians  of  every  religion  and 
every  province,  to  make  Service  the  dominant  Idod  of  my  life, 
and  therefore:  To  seek  the  public  good  before  personal  advan* 
tage;  to  protect  the  helpless,  defend  the  oppressed,  teach  the 
igaonuit,  raise  tiw  down-trodden;  to  diOMe  boom  definite  Km  of 


Mil 


a74        CHRISnANrrV  AND  THE  NATIONS 


public  usefulness,  and  to  labour  thereon ;  to  perform  every  day 
at  least  one  act  of  service ;  to  pursue  our  ideals  by  law-abiding 
methods  only;  to  be  a  good  citizen  of  my  municipality  or  district, 
my  province,  the  Motherland,  and  the  Empire.  To  all  this 
I  pledge  myself,  in  the  presence  of  the  Supreme  Lord,  to  our 
Chief,  our  Brotherhood,  and  our  country,  that  I  may  be  a  true 
Son  of  India."  It  is  an  honourable  obligation  on  the  part  of 
every  member,  pledged  and  unfledged,  to  repeat  daily  the  Quun 
of  Union,  as  follows: 

"  May  the  One  Lord  of  the  Universe,  worshipped  under 
many  names,  pour  into  the  hearts  of  the  Brothers  and  Sisters 
of  this  Order,  and  tlirough  them  into  India,  the  Spirit  of  Unity 
and  of  Service."— (Quoted  in  The  Pioneer,  Allahabad,  October 
36,  1908.) 

If  any  one  will  really  do  the  work  of  Christ,  he  will  begin 
to  see  the  word  of  Christ.  And  whoever  adopts  the  principle 
of  sacrificial  service  as  the  law  of  life  borrows  an  origfaial  con- 
ception of  Christianity  of  winch  the  mm-Christian  rel^k»s  ^ 

not  know. 

(4)  Christ  and  Christ  alone  rose  from  the  dead.  The  idea 
and  principle  of  resurrection  are  in  Christianity  alone.  Dr. 
Lloyd  finds  more  in  the  non-Christian  religions  than  some  are  able 
to  find,  but  in  the  resurrection  he  finds  what  was  the  unique, 
what  to  St.  Paul,  too,  was  an  original  and  accrediting  distinction 
in  Christianity.  "  During  the  five  centuries  immediately  before 
the  Christian  era,"  says  Dr.  Lloyd  in  one  of  the  most  striking 
of  recent  books  on  comparative  religion,  "  God's  Truth  was 
hang  gradually  revealed;  here  a  truth  and  there  a  truth;  m 
many  fragments  and  in  many  ways,  as  nations  and  peoples  were 
able  to  bear  the  light.  Christ  took  to  Himself  and  combined 
in  His  own  person  all  that  had  hitherto  been  revealed  and 
known.  The  unifying  factor  was  not  the  Incarnation,  nor  the 
Virgin  Birth,  nor  the  Life  of  Benevolence,  nor  the  words  of 
Wisdom  and  Love.  All  these  were  to  be  found  in  Hinduism,  in 
Buddhism,  in  Confucianism,  in  Greek  phikMophy.  But  when 
the  Incarnate  Son  of  God,  bom  of  Mary,  baptised  in  Jordan, 
and  tempted  of  Satan,  after  a  life  spent  in  works  of  mercy  and 
words  of  love,  faced  death  rather  than  be  untrue  to  principle, 
tnd  not  onfy  laced  death  but  ccmqucred  it  by  Resurrectk»  »aA 


CHRISTIANITV  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  ijs 

Ascension,  it  was  known  at  once  tint  He  had  gatiwrcd  all  diings 

into  Himself,  and  that  there  was  no  further  need  of  any  partial 
or  fragmentary  Gospel."— (Lloyd.  "  Wheat  Among  the  Tares," 
p.  236.)  This  does  not  purport  to  be  a  full  view  of  Christianity, 
but  it  does  set  forth  the  uniqueness  of  its  great  central  fact, 
which  has  no  parallel  as  a  fact  in  any  other  religiOT,  and  from 
which  springs  the  triumphant  power  of  our  Faith. 

S.  And  mm,  in  the  fiftfi  i*ice,  in  our  comparison  of  the 
world's  religions,  we  find  not  only  that  Christianity  has  all  the 
good  and  lacks  all  the  evUs  of  the  non-Christian  religions,  and 
that  it  has  additional  good  which  they  want,  but  we  find  also  and 
in  consequence  that  Aey  are  inadequate  to  meet  tfie  worid's 
needs. 

For,  looking  at  the  matter  more  generally,  what  are  the  great 
needs  of  men  that  a  religion  must  meet? 

Man  has  his  intellectual  needs.  As  Mr.  Ruskin  says  in  a 
note,  there  are  three  great  questions  that  inevitably  confront 
every  man:  Where  did  I  come  from?  Whither  am  I  going? 
What  can  I  know?  Men  must  have  those  questicms  answered. 
All  over  the  worid  every  honest,  thoughtful  man  is  confronted 
by  the  great  problems  of  his  origin  and  his  duty  and  his  destiny. 
The  ntm-Christiui  rdtgrans  have  no  satisfying  message  to  speak 
to  such  seeking  men.  Their  philosophies  of  the  worid  may 
stand  for  a  little  while  in  any  metaphysical  discussion,  but  they 
collapse,  they  are  passing  before  our  eyes,  at  the  touch  of  the 
piqnical  sciences.  PhflosoplBes  of  the  world  that  cannot  endure 
contact  with  reality  cannot  satisfy  the  intellectual  needs  of  men. 

The  non-Christian  religions  are  inadequate  to  meet  the  moral 
needs  of  men.  In  the  first  place,  the  non-Christian  religions  are 
not  able  to  present  a  perfect  moral  ideal  to  men.  Mr.  Bosworth 
Smith  goes  on,  in  the  same  chapter  which  I  quoted  a  moment 
ago,  to  say:  "When  I  speak  of  the  ideal  life  of  Moham- 
medanism, I  must  not  be  misunderstood.  There  is  in  Moham- 
medanism no  id«J  life  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  for  Mo- 
hammed's character  was  admitted  by  himself  to  be  a  weak  and 
erring  one.  It  was  disfigured  by  at  least  one  huge  moral  blemish ; 
and  extttiy  b  so  far  m  his  Hie  has,  in  spite  of  lib  canmt  and 


ii! 


276 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


rcHentcd  protettatioBs.  been  made  an  cxamfrie  to  be  followed, 

has  that  vice  been  perpetuated.  But  in  Christianity  the  case  is 
different  The  words,  '  Which  of  you  convinceth  me  of  sin  ? ' 
forced  from  the  moutfi  oi  Him  Who  was  meek  and  lowly  of 
heart,  by  the  wickedness  of  tiiose  whu.  piiding  themselves  on 
being  Abraham's  children,  never  did  the  works  of  Abraham,  are 
a  definite  challenge  to  the  world.  That  challenge  has  been  for 
nineteen  centsnes  before  tiw  eyes  of  unfriendly,  as  wdl  as  of 
believing  readers,  and  it  has  never  yet  been  fairly  met;  and  at 
this  moment,  by  the  confession  of  friend  and  foe  alike,  the 
diaracter  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  stands  alone  in  its  spotless  purity 
and  its  unapproachable  majesty."  And  tiiis  is  true  of  ^1  the 
non-Christian  religions.  Confucius  never  dreamed  of  setting 
himself  up  as  a  moral  ideal  for  men.  The  idea  never  crossed 
Buddha's  tiwi^ht;  and  as  for  naany  Hindu  gods,  we  are  better 
gods  ourselves  than  they  are.  I  mean  that  our  moral  characters 
are  superior  to  the  moral  characters  of  these  Hindu  gods.  Such 
religions  cannot  satisfy  the  moral  needs  of  men. 

Not  oafy  do  the  non-Christian  reUgkms  erect  before  tfw  eyes 
of  men  no  perfect  moral  ideal,  but  they  do  not  offer  to  men  any 
living,  transforming  power  by  which  the  ideals  that  they  do 
present  can  be  realised.  No  great  non-Christian  teadier  ever 
spoke  to  men  such  words  as  Christ  spoke.  "  He  that  eateth 
my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood  hath  eternal  life."  "  Come  unto 
me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest"  "I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  witt  draw  all 
men  unto  me."  Even  if  the  non-Christian  religions  did  n^te 
upon  men  a  perfect  ethical  demand,  of  what  value  is  it  to  a 
man  to  have  a  perfect  ethical  <kmand  made  upon  him?  His 
own  conscience  already  makes  ethical  demands  upon  him  beyond 
his  ability  to  reply.  What  men  n^ed  is  not  a  fresh  moral  de- 
mand. What  men  need  is  a  fresh  moral  re-enforcement,  a  power 
in  tiieir  wills  to  enable  them  to  attain  the  ideals  whidi  rtaad  out 
before  them.  Jesus  Christ  did  not  come  to  creato  a  new  set  of 
moral  obligations;  He  did  not  come  to  multiply  the  number  of 
"oughts"  under  which  life  was  to  be  lived;  He  came  to  give 
nca  more  power  to  ftdfil  tiie  "  oughts  "  tmder  wlueh  titey  alrewijr 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  REUOIONS  t77 


lived.    The  non-Christian  rdigkms  are  impotent  to  nwet  tiw 

moral  needs  of  man,  because  not  only  do  they  hold  up  before 
him  no  perfect  moral  ideal,  but  they  offer  him  no  sufficient  power 
to  attata  even  the  best  ideal  idridi  tfiey  do  present 

They  are  inadequate  to  meet  his  moral  needs  because  there 
is  in  them  no  just  conception  of  sin.  A  religion  that  has  no  idea 
of  a  holy  God  cannot  have  any  idea  of  a  sinful  man.  It  is 
because  under  the  non-Christian  rdigions  men  have  no  concep- 
tion of  such  a  God  as  Christ  disclosed  that  they  have  never 
sat  down  in  the  midst  of  shame  and  sorrow  at  the  hideousness 
of  flieir  ML  And,  of  course,  with  no  message  showing  man 
the  reality  of  sin,  the  non-Christian  rdigioos  have  no  mrisatt 
of  deliverance  and  of  forgiveness. 

And  further,  the  non-Christian  religions  are  inadequate  to 
man's  moral  needs  because  they  are  all  morally  chaotic.  We 
mean  more  than  one  thing  by  that.  We  mean,  for  one  thing, 
that  there  never  was  a  consonance  between  the  best  ideal  and 
the  reality  in  the  non-Christian  religions.  No  great  non-Chris- 
tian religious  teacher  ever  lived  up  to  his  own  ethical  ideals, 
and  that  chasm  which  was  real  in  the  banning  is  becoming 
a  wider  and  wider  chasm  with  the  years.  It  is  perfectly  true 
tiiat  tiiere  is  no  Christian  country  in  the  wortd ;  it  is  true  tiiat 
there  is  no  society  that  entirdy  embodies  in  itself  the  principles 
of  Christ  But  there  is  this  great  difference  between  the  Chris- 
tian societies  and  the  non-Christian  societies.  The  gulf  between 
the  ideal  and  the  actual  in  the  non-Christian  wcn-ld  is  widenteg 
every  year,  while  the  gulf  in  the  Christian  worid  is  narrowing 
with  each  passing  generation.  The  people  of  the  non-Christian 
lands,  most  of  tfwm,  have  sank  cttiically  below  the  level  in 
which  they  were  when  their  great  religious  teachers  arose. 
There  never  was  an  era  in  the  history  of  the  world  when  Chris- 
tian lands  were  as  near  to  the  moral  ideab  of  Christ  as  they 
are  to-<tay.  It  is  true  tiwt  our  Christianity  is  not  pure,  but  tree 
Christianity  has  in  itself  the  self-purifying  power;  and  whereas 
all  the  non-Christian  religions,  instead  of  being  steps  upward,  are 
degenerating  from  the  catastrophic  moral  upheavals  from  which 
tbqr  ^raag,  li»  Christian  r^O^ou  moves  oo  in  a  t!tmdy  aaocnd- 


MKtOCOPV  RfSOUJTION  TEST  CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  3) 


/APPLIED  IM/C3E  Ine 


I6S3  East  Main  Stmt 
Rochester,  Ne»  York  ueot 
(716)  »W  -  0300  -  Phoiw 
(716)  28B  -  5989  -  To. 


US* 


378        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


ing  stream  toward  the  great  fountain  from  which  first  of  all  it 
came. 

Yet  once  again,  the  non-Christian  religions  break  down  at 
the  central  and  fundamental  point.  They  have  not  perceived, 
the  inviolable  sacredness  of  truth.  "Vertty,"  said  Mohammed, 
"  a  lie  is  allowable  in  three  cases :  to  women,  to  reconcile  friends, 
and  in  war."  And  the  god  Krishna  himself,  in  one  cf  the  Hindu 
sacred  books,  the  Mahabharata,  declares  that  there  are  five 
different  situations  in  which  falsehood  may  be  us«l :  in  marriage, 
for  the  gratification  of  lust,  to  save  life,  to  secure  one's  property, 
or  for  the  sake  of  a  Brahman.  In  these  cases,  says  Krishna, 
falsehood  may  be  uttered.  Let  the  story  of  "  The  Forty-seven 
Ronins"  testify  to  the  failure  of  Japanese  religion  to  perceive 
and  enforce  the  inviolability  of  truth.  "  Lie  not  one  to  another," 
says  Christianity's  clean  and  unqualified  injunction.  "  Lie  not," 
M3rs  Buddhism,  but  adds  tiie  truth-annihilating  condition;  "to 
constitute  a  lie,  there  must  be  the  discovery  by  the  person 
deceived  that  what  has  been  told  him  is  not  true." — (Hasdy, 
"Manual  of  Buddhism,"  p.  486.)  Confucius  himself  broke  an 
oath  and  excused  it.  (Faber,  "  China  in  the  Light  of  History," 
p.  63.)  Now,  if  there  is  one  place  where  religion  and  the  men 
of  religion  meet  their  certain  testing,  it  is  here.  Here  are  two 
of  the  great  non-Christian  religions  which  deliberately  proclaim 
that  no  man  is  under  obligation  to  tell  the  truth  to  women.  All 
proclaim  that  there  are  cases  in  which  lies  are  justified.  But 
Christianity  declares  that  there  is  one  thing  that  to  God  Himself 
is  absdttt^  and  inviolately  sacred ;  that  Ciod  eamK>t  He,  and  tiiat 
what  God  cannot  do  no  religion  dare  pronounce  to  be  allowable 
in  the  sons  of  God.  Any  religion  or  religious  teacher  proclaim- 
ing the  possibility,  the  allowability  of  lies,  excavates  the  founda- 
tions wider  human  confident,  ttnder  til  living  faith  in  a  real 
God,  and  makes  impossiUe  ui  answer  to  ibt  monl  needs  of 
men. 

And,  furdiermore,  tiie  non-Christian  religions  are  inadequate 
to  meet  man's  moral  need  because  they  have  no  adequate  sanc- 
tions buttressing  morality.  You  cannot  support  morality  on 
the  basis  of  pantheism ;  it  liquefies  the  sanctions  of  morals.  You 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON^RISTIAN  REUGIONS  379 

cannot  do  it  on  the  basis  of  such  a  hard  monotheism  as  Islam's, 
because  in  actual  fact  it  petrifies  the  moral  restramts.  Dr.  H. 
O.  Dwight,  long  of  Constantinople,  told  a  little  while  ago  of  a 
voyage  which  he  took  in  the  Levant  with  a  Turkish  official.  As 
they  sat  down  in  the  cabin  at  the  dinner  table  the  Turkish  official, 
inviting  Dr.  Dwight  to  drink  with  him,  said:  "You  may  think 
it  strange  that  I,  a  Mohammedan,  should  ask  you,  a  Christian, 
to  drink  with  me,  when  wine-drinking  is  forbidden  by  our  re- 
ligion. I  will  teU  you  how  I  dare  to  do  this  thing."  He  fitted 
his  glass  and  held  it  up,  looking  at  the  beautiful  colour  of  it, 
and  said:  "Now,  if  I  say  that  it  is  right  to  drink  this  wine,  I 
deny  God's  commandments  to  men,  and  He  would  punish  me 
in  hell  for  the  blasphemy.  But  I  take  up  this  glass,  admitting 
that  God  has  commanded  me  not  to  drink  it,  and  that  I  sin  in 
drinking  it.  Then  I  drink  it  off,  so  casting  myself  on  the  mercy 
of  God.  For  our  religion  lets  me  know  that  God  is  too  merciful 
to  punish  me  for  doing  a  thing  which  I  wish  to  do,  when  I 
humbly  admit  that  to  do  it  breaks  His  commandments."  His 
religion  furnished  titis  pasha  with  no  moral  restraints  or  power 
for  true  character.  The  simplt  fact  is  that  the  pure  fnonoOeiatic 
faith  of  Islam  has  not  prevented  a  horrible  tarn  of  immorality 
over  all  the  Mohammedan  world.  Neither  that  lifeless  mono- 
tiwism  nor  tiie  ptntteism  of  other  non-Christiaa  religiom  caa 
furnish  the  smctioiit  by  whidi  akmc  moral  bdiavioiir  cm  l» 
sustained. 

And  just  as  the  non-Christian  religions  are  inadequate  to 
iBMt  alike  the  intdlectual  and  the  moral  needs  of  men,  10  tfiey 
are  utterly  inadequate  to  meet  the  social  needs  of  men.  Re- 
ligions which  deny  to  one-half  of  society  the  right  to  the  truth 
camwt  meet  the  sodal  needs  of  mankind.  Religions  which  pro- 
claim that  women  nay  be  lied  to  sinlessly  are  anti-social  in  tiw 
very  principles  upon  which  they  rest,  and  we  might  leave  the 
whole  case  against  the  adequacy  of  these  non-Christian  religions 
Iwrt.  There  is  In  no  one  of  tfie  non-ChrUtiaa  religions  any 
thing  like  the  Christian  home.  A  woman  miukmary  from  Japan 
spoke  recently  of  the  pathetic  desire  of  many  people  in  Japan 
to  learn  about  the  constitution  of  the  Western  home.  As  she 


aSo       CHRISTIANITr  AND  THE  NATIONS 


went  to  and  fro,  she  said,  even  anxmg  the  country  villafes  she 
always  found  the  people  eager  to  sit  down  with  her  and  talk 
about  the  home.  They  had  heard  of  a  better  social  organisation 
than  theirs,  and  they  were  anxious  to  know  where  the  secret 
of  it  was  to  be  found.  More  Han  one  Japanese  statesman  m 
earlier  days  beheld  a  revelation  in  Christian  home  life.  We  hold 
here  in  our  Christian  faith  the  one  secret  of  a  pure  social  life, 
in  the  matter  of  the  relation  of  sex  to  sex  and  of  the  adult  to 
the  child.  The  non-Christian  religions  condemn  women  in  prin- 
ciple or  legal  right  to  the  place  of  chattel  or  of  slave.  A  religion 
which  denies  to  woman  her  right  place  in  society,  which  even 
prodaims  that  no  woman,  as  a  woman,  can  be  saved,  as  Bud 
dhism  does  proclaim,  cannot  *r.eet  the  social  needs  of  humanity. 

These  religions  cannot  meet  the  social  needs  of  men  because 
they  are  incapable  of,  and  inconsistent  with,  progress.  Now, 
there  are  three  great  elements  in  religion :  the  element  of  felkm- 
ship,  the  element  of  dependence,  and  the  element  of  progress. 
The  non-Christian  religions  rest  on  man's  sense  of  dependence, 
but  they  have  no  message  to  deliver  to  his  need  of  fdtewship, 
and  they  have  no  word  to  speak  to  his  need  of  progress.  Each 
one  of  the  non-Christian  religions  to-day  is  bound  up  with  a 
degenerating  civilisation;  and  the  peoples  who  live  under  the 
noB^ristian  religions  are  making  no  progress,  are  even  dtp- 
ping  socially  backward,  save  as  they  break  free  from  these  old 
restraints  and  feel  the  transforming  power  of  the  Christian 
principles.  This  is  true  of  Isbun.  Is  it  not  a  significant  fact 
that  the  great  wastes  of  the  world  are  under  the  faith  of  Islam  ? 
Wherever  Mohammedanism  has  gone,  it  has  either  found  a 
desert  or  made  one.  Twelve  hundred  years  ago  it  bound  down 
all  homan  life  in  tfie  Arabian  faistitutions  of  ^  seventii  century, 
and  until  this  day,  and  so  long  as  Mohammedanism  abides  itself 
in  the  world,  progress  will  be  inconsistent  with  that  faith.  It  is 
as  Lord  Houston  put  it: 

So  while  the  world  rolls  on  from  age  to  age 

And  realms  of  thought  expand. 
The  letter  stands  without  expanse  or  range. 

Stiff  as  a  dead  man's  hand. 


CHRISTIANITy  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  281 

And  that  which  is  true  of  Mohammedanism  is  essentially  true 
of  all  die  non-Christten  reUgkms.  Not  one  of  dwm  is  capaUe 
of,  or  consistent  with,  progress.  Japan  oflFcrs  no  exception. 
"  Japan,"  said  the  Japan  Mail,  not  long  ago,  "  is  an  interesting 
country.  It  has  been  an  interesting  country  for  the  last  forty 
years.  The  moribund  condition  of  its  only  religious  creed  is 
certainly  not  the  least  interesting  feature  of  its  modem  career." 
Japan's  progress  has  sprung,  not  from  Buddhism,  but  from  an 
abandonment  or  modifiaition  of  Buddhism. 

At  the  celebration  in  Tokyo  in  October,  1909,  of  the  semi- 
centermial  of  the  coming  of  Protestant  missions  to  Japan,  Count 
Oinana  frankly  avowed  the  futility  of  Buddhism  and  the  effi- 
denqr  of  Christianily  as  an  agwqr  of  baman  progress: 

He  said,  in  brief,  tint  he  was  glad  of  diis  opportunity  to 
express  a  word  of  hearty  con^tulation  to  those  who  were  as- 
sembled to  celebrate  this  semi-centennial  of  Christian  work  in 
Japan.  Though  not  himself  a  professed  Christian,  he  confessed 
to  have  received  great  influence  frun  that  creed,  as  have  so 
mwiy  others  throughout  Japan.  This  is  a  most  important  anni- 
versary for  the  country.  It  represents  the  work  of  one  whole 
age  in  our  history,  during  which  most  marvellous  changes  have 
taken  place.  He  came  in  contact  with,  and  received  great  i»> 
pulses  from,  smne  of  the  missicMiaries  of  that  early  period,  par- 
ticularly from  Dr.  Verbeck,  who  was  his  teacher  in  English  and 
history  and  the  Bible,  and  whose  great  and  virtuous  influence 
he  can  never  forget.  Though  he  could  do  little  direct  evangelis- 
tic work  then,  all  his  work  was  Christian,  and  in  everything  he  did 
his  Christlike  spirit  was  revealed.  The  CMnii^  of  missK>naries 
to  Japan  was  die  means  of  Unkiiqr  d>i«  country  to  the  Anrio- 
Saxon  spirit  to  which  the  heart  of  Japan  has  always  responded. 
The  success  of  Christian  work  in  Japan  can  be  measured  by  the 
extent  to  which  i  has  been  able  to  infuse  the  Anglo-Saxon  and 
the  Christian  spirit  into  the  nattm.  It  has  been  the  means  of 
putting  into  these  fifty  years  an  advance  equivalent  to  that  of 
a  hundred  years.  Japan  has  a  history  of  2,500  years,  and  1,500 
years  ago  had  advanced  in  civilisation  and  domestic  arts,  but 
never  took  wide  views  nor  entered  upon  wide  wm*.  Onfy  by 
die  coming  of  the  West  in  its  missionanr  rq>res«itadves,  and 
bjr  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  did  die  nation  enter  upon  world- 
wide thoughts  and  world-wide  work.  This  is  a  great  result  of 
die  ChrUtian  spirit  To  be  sure,  Japan  had  her  religions,  and 


afo        CHRISTIANrrr  AND  THE  NATIONS 


Buddhism  prospered  greatly;  but  this  prosperity  was  largely 
Uirough  politicsu  means.  Now  this  creed  has  been  practically 
rejected  by  the  better  classes  who,  being  spiritually  thirsty,  have 
nodung  to  drink. — {The  Japan  DaUy  MaU,  October  9,  1909.) 

And  yet  mice  more,  the  non-Christian  religions  are  inade- 
quate to  the  social  aeeds  of  men  because  every  one  of  them 
denies  the  unity  of  mankind,  Hinduism  with  its  caste,  Con- 
fucianism with  its  conceit,  Islam  with  its  fanatical  bigotry,  and 
Buddhism  with  its  damnation  of  all  women.  It  was  given  to 
Buddha  in  his  destiny  never  to  be  bom  in  hell,  or  as  vermin, 
or  as  a  woman.  "A  Brahman,"  sa;  s  the  Code  of  Manu,  the 
highest  Hindu  lawbook,  "may  take  possessbn  of  the  goods  of 
a  Sudra  with  perfect  peace  of  mind,  since  nothing  at  all  belongs 
to  the  Sudra  as  his  own."  "  The  system  of  caste  which  is  one 
of  the  most  characteristic  institutions  of  Hinduism  and  the 
basis  of  Hindu  Society,"  says  the  Bishop  of  Madras,  Dr.  White- 
head, "  is  a  direct  denial  of  the  brotherhood  of  man.  The  idea 
that  the  Brahman  is  the  brother  of  the  pariah  is  contrary  to 
the  first  principles  of  Hinduism,  and  abhorrent  to  tiie  Hindu 
mind.  Whatever  enthusiasm  there  may  be  for  brotherhood  in 
the  abstract,  it  stops  short  of  the  brotherhood  of  the  Brahman 
and  the  pariah.  To  apply  to  Hindu  society  the  principle  of 
Christian  brotherhood  would  mean  a  social  revolution;  and  it 
is  for  this  practical  reason  that  the  spread  of  Christianity  in 
India  is  so  bitterly  opposed.  The  We^iern  dress  has  little  or 
nothing  to  do  with  it:  the  real  ground  of  Ae  opposition  is  the 
fundamental  principle  of  the  brotherhood  of  man."  To  be  sure, 
the  phrase,  "The  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of 
man,"  is  a  common  phrase  throughout  the  world,  but  both  of 
these  (Treat  corceptkms  arc  the  contritNtttons  of  tfa«  Christian 
revelation. 

And,  just  as  the  non-Christian  religions  are  inadequate  to 
meet  tiie  tntellectual  and  tiie  moral  and  tiie  soda!  needs  of  man, 
so  they  are  inadequa<te  to  meet  his  spiritual  needs.  For  one 
thing,  all  these  non-Christian  religions  are  practically  atheistic. 
Dr.  Dwight's  pasha's  god  amounts  to  no  god  at  all.  Hinduism 
^  333iOCj,ooo  gods,  but  tlM  nun  wlu>  hM  333,0001000  fods 


CHRISTIANmr  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  REUGIONS  2S3 


has  no  god  except  himself.  Buddhism,  in  the  southern  form  at 
least,  deliberately  denies  the  existence  of  any  god.  "  Buddha," 
says  Max  Mtiller,  "  denies  the  existence  not  only  of  the  Creator, 
but  of  any  absolute  being.  As  regards  the  idea  of  a  personal 
Creator,  Bud^  seems  merciless."  These  great  non-Christiaa 
religions  have  no  satisfying  word  to  speak  to  man  about  God. 
They  represent,  as  they  actually  are— and  this  is  the  most  charita- 
ble view  tiiat  we  can  take  of  them— they  represent  the  groping 
search  of  man  after  light  They  show  us  the  mm-Christiaa 
peoples  stumbling  blindly  around  the  great  altar-stairs  of  God, 
the  more  pitiably,  as  Fleming  Stevenson  said,  because  they  do 
not  know  that  they  are  Mind.  As  over  against  all  Aese,  Chris- 
tianity stands  as  the  loving  quest  of  God  after  man,  the  full, 
rich  revealing  of  His  light  and  hfe,  the  unfolding  of  His  love 
toward  His  children,  whom  He  has  come  forth  to  seek  in  a 
way  of  which  none  of  the  non-Christian  rel^ons  has  ever 
conceived.  They  are  inadequate  to  meet  the  spiritual  needs  of 
men,  because  they  have  never  taught  men  to  say  "  Father."  By 
so  mudi  as  we  love  to  call  Him  Father,  by  so  much  as  we  de- 
light to  kneel  down  alone,  in  all  the  joy  of  our  own  dear  and 
loving  intimacy  with  Him,  and  call  Him  by  the  precious  name 
in  which  Christ  revealed  Him,  by  so  much  are  we  under  the 
noble  duty  to  make  our  Father  known  to  all  our  Fatfm^s  dtil- 
dren  throughout  the  world. 

And  these  non-Christian  religions  are  inadequate  to  meet 
man's  q>irittial  seed,  also,  because  they  speak  to  him  no  word 
of  hope.  Mohammedanism  Vias  no  word  of  hope  to  speak  to 
him.  When  the  true  man's  heart  has  revolted  from  its  idea  of 
a  sensual  paradise,  what  can  he  say  except  what  poor  Omar 
said? 

One  moment  in  annihilation's  waste. 
One  moment  of  the  well  of  life  to  taste. 
The  stars  are  setting,  and  the  caravan 
Starti  for  die  dawn  of  nothing.  Oh,  make  haste. 

The  folk  lore  soi^s  of  India,  revealing  the  tn»  heart  of  a»e 
peof^  are  no  h^gi^: 


iiippli 


aa4        CHKISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

How  many  births  are  past  I  cannot  tell; 

How  many  yet  to  come  no  man  can  s^. 
But  tins  alooe  I  know,  and  know  fyH  Wh 

That  pam  and  grief  cmliittcr  aU  tiie  way. 

In  those  first  days,  when  Christianity  first  shone  on  men,  men 
realised  that  the  great  hope  was  the  hope  of  Christ,  that  those 
who  were  without  Christ  were  without  God,  and  also  without 
hope.  It  is  laitow  to  speak  so  to-day;  but  we  .  «  content  to 
be  as  narrow  as  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Savic  ad  as  Paul, 
the  greatest  heart  that  ever  went  out  to  taaJf  .lim  known  to 
the  wortd.  The  world  witiiout  Christ  is  a  spiritually  hopeless 
world. 

We  cannot  study  its  religions  and  believe  otherwise.  Opti- 
mistic and  bt-oyant  of  hope  as  he  was.  Dr.  Barrows,  who  organ- 
ised tile  comparison  of  rd^ioas  in  the  Chicago  Pftrfiamcnt  o 
Religions,  came  to  the  same  belief.  "The  world  needs  the 
Christian  religion.  I  have  given  five  of  the  best  years  of  my 
life  to  the  examination  of  this  question,  and  I  have  had  oppor- 
tunities, such  as  no  other  man  ever  had,  of  seei^  and  knowing 
the  best  side  of  the  ethnic  religions.  I  count  as  my  friends 
Parsees  and  Hindus,  Buddhists  and  Confudanists,  Shintdsts 
and  Mohammedans.  I  know  what  they  say  abottt  tftenndm. 
I  have  looked  at  their  religions  on  the  ideal  side,  as  well  as 
the  practical,  and  I  know  this:  That  the  very  best  which  is  in 
them,  the  very  best  which  these  well-meaning  men  have  shown 
to  us,  is  a  reflex  from  Christiantty,  and  that  what  they  lade, 
and  the  lack  is  very  serious,  is  what  the  Christian  Gospel  alone 
can  impart;  and  I  know  that  beneath  the  shining  example  of 
the  dcct  few  in  the  noo-Christian  worid  tiwre  is  a  vast  area 
of  idolatry  and  pollution  and  unrest  and  superstition  and  cruelty, 
which  can  never  be  healed  by  the  forces  which  are  found  in 
the  non-Christian  systems." 

6.  We  are  confirmed  accordingiy  m  the  convictkm  wi^  iriiiek, 
as  we  freely  admitted,  the  missionary  enterprise  starts  out,  with- 
out which  there  would  not  be  any  missionary  enterprise,  that 
Christianity  akiM  is  adeqtnte  fm-  ^  tiw  mcds  of  ^  worid,  and 
that  it  is  to  an  tfat  work!  that  it  nmit  be  cafriad.  We  bafitv* 


mmmmmmm 


CHRISnANITV  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  REUGIONS  385 

it  is  adeqiiBte  because,  to  lecapitulate,  a  comparison  of 
Oiristiaiiity  wiA  other  religions  shows  tiat  it  hat  a  tmiqne  and 
superior  conception  of  God.   It  "  has  such  a  conception  of  God 
as  no  other  religion  has  attained;  and  what  is  more,  it  ptodaims 
and  brings  to  pass  such  aa  experience  of  God  as  humanity  has 
never  elsewhere  known.  .  .  .  The  God  of  Chrisrianity  is  one, 
the  sole  source,  Lord  and  end  of  all.    He  is  holy,  being  in 
Hinnself  the  character  that  is  the  sole  standard  for  all  beings. 
He  is  love,  reaching  out  to  save  the  world  from  sin  and  fifl 
it  with  His  own  goodness.   He  is  wise,  knowing  how  to  accom- 
plish His  heart's  desire.   He  is  Father  in  heart,  looking  upon 
His  creatures  as  His  own  and  seddi^  their  wdfare.  All  this 
truth  concerning  Himself  He  has  made  known  in  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Saviour  of  the  world,  in  whom  His  redemptive  will  has 
found  expressi<m  and  His  saving  love  has  come  forth  to  ill 
mankind.  ...  The  conception  of  God  wttii  whidi  Chrutiaa  ,  ? 
addresses  the  world  is  the  best  that  man  can  form  or  entertam."— 
(Clarke,  "A  Study  of  Christian  Missions,"  pp.  10,  11,  18.) 
And  it  is  a  conception  bdonging  to  Christianity  alone.  The 
worid  can  only  know  its  God  through  Christianity.   Other  re- 
Iigi<Mis  express  the  sense  of  human  dependence.   They  do  not 
give  tiie  Ic  '-nz  'ouls  their  God.   Other  religions  speak  of  a 
higher  tr  <  .  Bud^iirts  do  n  tiidr  appe^  of  "  l^e  great 

truth  shir"  '  but  only  one  reveals  that  truth  in  a  loving, 

personal  Goo,  Oar  Father."  Other  rdigions  utter  man's  feel- 
ings of  hdf^essness,  bat  ndy  one  tdls  of  a  Divine  Saviour  who 
oflFers  man  forgiveness  of  sin  and  salvation  through  His  deatfi, 
and  Who  is  now  a  living  person  working  in  and  with  all  who 
believe  in  Him  to  make  them  hdy  and  righteous  and  pure. 

Christianity  also  is  the  only  religton  of  moral  efficiency  and 
power.  The  Japanese  papers  candidly  acknowledged  the  in- 
feriority of  Buddhism  in  its  practical  ministry  to  the  soldiers 
in  the  late  war.  As  the  Kyokawai  Jiji,  a  Buddhist  journal, 
•aid: 

Nmaerically  speaking.  Buddhism  far  ootranla  Christiairfty; 
fj^^oyrwion  of  actual  work  accomplished,  the  balance  of  power 
»  m  wnm  of  oe  Christians.  General  hatred  against  Chris- 


a86       CHRISTIANrry  AND  THE  NATIONS 


tianity  is  passing  away,  and  iht  bdief  that  it  is  better  adapted 
to  the  new  condition  of  things  is  daily  gaining  ground.  Buddhist 
customs  and  rites  are  becoming  more  and  more  alien  to  the 
interests  of  society  and  Buddhist  ten^ks  and  priests  are  often 
1^  subject  of  public  ridicule. 

The  war-correspondents  declare  the  unfitness  and  inability  of 
the  Buddhist  priests,  and  the  more  thoughtful  of  these  pnests 
who  are  at  the  front  lament  bitterly  their  co-workers'  ignorance, 
senselessness,  and  idleness,  which  have  caused  the  soldiers  to 
ridicule  them  and  also  to  become  tired  of  them.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  quarters  of  the  Christians  are  r^rded  as  a  paradise 
for  the  soldiers,  and  they  are  w^come  everywhere. 

The  enormous  amount  of  Yzoo.ooo  has  been  expended  by  the 
Honganji  (the  largest  Buddhist  sect  in  Japan)  for  the  work 
among  the  soldiers,  but  it  is  far  inferior  to  the  work  of  the 
Christian  Association,  whose  expenditure  amounts  only  to  a  few 
thousand  yen.  The  work  of  the  Christians  'las  attained  such 
success  that  it  has  reached  the  Emperor's  ear;  while  that  of 
tile  Btiddhisti  is  always  attemled  by  ddito  and  distturbanccs. 

When  Shaku  Soyen,  one  of  the  representatives  of  Japanese 
Buddhism  in  Chicago  at  the  Parliament  of  Religions,  came 
recently  to  Gobo  to  preach,  one  of  his  old  students,  Mr.  Iwa- 
hashi,  went  to  caO  on  hon,  and  remarked:  "  I  have  now  become 
a  Christian,  and  am  preaching  Jesus."  Shaku  replied:  "The 
Christian  religion  is  a  religion  that  has  a  power  over  the  lives 
of  men  which  I  long  to  see  in  our  Buddhism."  This  superior 
moral  power  of  Christianity  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
only  religion  which  identifies  religion  and  ethics,  which  makes 
righteousness  the  life  and  faith  of  men,  and  which  utters  itself 
in  holy  obedimce  and  servke.  (See  artide  in  The  ImU pendent, 
December  15,  1898,  by  A.  H.  Bradford,  "  Does  the  World  Need 
Christianity?")  Christianity  is  the  one  lifting  religion,  which 
takes  hold  of  classes  and  of  races,  as  of  men,  and  gives  them 
a  new  life.  As  a  "  Brahman "  wrote  in  The  Madras  Mail 
(Quoted  in  "  White  Already  to  Harvest,"  May,  1901) : 

It  is  above  this  degrading  and  narrow  influence  of  caste  and 
custom  that  the  Hindu  religion  must  rise,  if  it  is  to  fulfil  its 
function  as  a  social  institution  apart  from  its  function  as  a 
force  promoting  the  affinity  between  soid  and  God.  The  Hindus 
have  sddom  rceogaked  rd^[km  as  a  social  institution,  witii  the 


m 


mam 


CHRISTIANmr  AND  NON-dUUSTIAN  KELKHONS  ^ 

material  happiness  of  ma  among  its  legitimate  ends.  The  Hindu 
religicm  never  cared  to  otganise  itself  in  order  to  be  able  to 
control  the  secular  interests  of  society,  and  consequently,  unlike 
Christianity,  it  is  losing  Its  hold,  if  it  has  ever  acquked  a  hold, 
on  the  minds  of  the  great  masses.   Tfc>»re  was  never  in  India 
any  such  organisation  as  a  Hindu  Church,  corresponding  to  the 
Christian  Church  in  Western  countries.   The  mats  and  monas- 
teries established  here  and  there  are  centres  of  spiritiial  educa- 
tion, to  keep  alive  ecclesiastical  authority  and  ancient  tenets; 
but  they  never  professed  to  concern  themselves  with  the  general 
condition  of  the  people.   In  Ae  Western  countries  modem 
opinion  insists  on  the  Christian  Church  taking  part— a  leading 
and  effective  part— in  every  good  work  done  for  the  alleviation 
of  suffering  and  promotion  of  happiness;  and  its  past  hist«»y 
is  a  laudable  record  of  work  done  for  the  elevation  of  the  poor, 
the  redress  of  social  wrongs,  and  the  general  progress  of  hu- 
manity.   The  Hindu  religion  boasts  of  no  Fuch  record,  and  if 
any  modernisation  of  it  is  possible,  it  should  abandon  its  attitude 
of  passive  exclusiveness,  of  cold  indifference  to  the  grossest  and 
most  cruel  wroiu;s  that  caste  and  custom  inflict  on  the  poorer 
classes    It  should  develop  new  energies  and  comt  forward  as 
a  friend  of  the  poor  and  oppressed.    It  is  this  practice  spirit 
of  charity  and  friendliness  to  suffering  humanity  that  must  per- 
meate the  modernised  Hindu  religion.   What  thought  educated 
Hindus  of  modem  times  may  give  to  their  religion  must  be  chiefly 
dominated  by  tfiis  spirit,  wWch  is  in  entire  accord  with  the 
grandest  and  the  most  earnest  teaching  of  all  true  religion.  In 
proportion  as  religion  fulfils  this  great  function,  it  will  justify 
the  devotion  it  exacts  from  intelligent  minds.    It  is  this  su- 
periorit]r  of  the  Christian  over  the  Hindu  religion  that  is  under- 
niinuig  its  Ixdd  on  the  people.   It  has  already  lost  a  good  deal 
of  Its  old  ground.  When  it  was  safe  against  all  foreign  mfluence. 
It  could  tyrannise  over  the  poor  as  it  liked.   But  the  Mduun- 
medan  religion,  by  taking  the  poorer  dass  under  its  shdter  and 
ay  Its  attack  on  the  Hindu  caste  system,  first  shook  the  social 
basis  of  Hmdu  religion ;  and  Christianity,  with  its  organised  and 
infinitely  superior  resources,  is  delivering  harder  blows.  En- 
lightened and  patriotic  Hindus  should  take  warning  betimes  and 
place  the  religion  of  their  ancestors  on  a  more  practiotl  and 
utilitarian  footing,  if  its  future  is  to  be  saved  and  its  position 
strengthened  aoKMig  the  great  religions  of  civilised  mankind. 

And  ChristMnity  is  not  only  found  to  be  the  one  religica  of 
power.  It  it  found  alio  to  be  the  one  naimial  rdigioii.  U 


aM       CHRISTIANmr  AND  THE  NATIONS 


cannot  be  otherwise  for  it  is  the  only  religion  with  a  universal 
God,  and  it  is  the  only  religion  which  provides  for  ceaseless 
progress  and  for  the  ever-enlarging  knowledge  of  God  and  life. 
"  That  is  ocactly  what  is  wanting  m  tiw  <^  rdigions.  There 
lacks  in  every  one  of  them  the  principles  of  progress,  and  that 
element  of  universality  which  is  Christianity's  distinctive  glory. 
They  have  no  special  promise  in  them.  Their  fatal  lack  of 
motive  power,  their  imperfect  morality,  and  their  incapacity 
to  give  vitality  and  vigour  to  their  principles,  is  the  secret  of 
their  failure.  Social  degeneracy  is  the  historic  outcome.  There 
is  no  trace  in  them  of  any  '  modem  dement '  of  universal  acfaqp- 
tati<m  to  the  wants  of  men.  They  have  reflected  the  climate, 
country,  race,  time,  in  which  they  arose ;  and  whatever  influence 
they  may  have  exerted,  they  did  not  draw  nations  out  of  the 
bei^en  track  in  which  they  had  lived.  '  Notwithstanding  die 
material  and  political  revolutions  which  they  underwent,'  says 
M.  Guizot,  'these  ancient  nations  followed  in  the  same  ways, 
and  retahied  the  same  propensities  as  before.'  For  tiie  old 
creeds  are  not  fitted  to  harmonise  widi  tiie  intellectual,  social, 
and  moral  progress  of  the  modem  world." — (Slater,  "The 
Higher  Hinduism,"  p.  283  f ;  Hume,  "  Missions  from  the  Modem 
View,"  p.  13  ff.) 

Whether,  accordingly,  Christianity  is  to  be  called  absolute 
or  not  we  will  not  dispute.  We  only  believe  that  it  is  absolutely 
needed  by  all  the  world,  and  tiiat  tiie  world  must  wait  for  its 
satisfaction,  for  the  completion  of  all  its  vague  yearnings,  of  its 
half-lights,  of  its  hopes,  which  are  half-despairs,  and  for  the  purg- 
ing of  its  sins  and  the  lighting  of  its  darkness,  which  is  itself  the 
promise  of  light,  untS  Christ  oomes  to  it  carrwd  by  tiiose  who 
know  Him  and  God  in  Him,  and  in  Him  as  the  light  of  all  the 
world.  (See  Westcott,  "  Religious  Thought  in  the  West,"  ch. 
on  "  The  Absoluteness  of  Christianity.") 

If  what  I  have  been  setting  forth  is  the  truth,  then  tiie 
missionary  enterprise  is  morally  justified  by  the  comparison  of 
Christianity  with  the  non-Christian  religions.  That  is  expressing 
it  tamely.  The  enterprise  is  not  oi^  morally  jttttified,  it  te 
monlfy  necemry.  Chrirttut  owe  it  both  to  tfidr  God  and  to 


CHEISTIANmr  AND  N01«^CHIUSTIAN  REXIGION8  3lh 


iStt  world  to  CMTy  the  cnterpriac  to  cooiplctiotL  If  Christiwiity 

is  such  a  religion  as  this,  it  "  deserves  possession  of  the  world. 
It  has  the  right  to  otier  itself  boldly  to  all  men,  and  to  displace 
an  odier  religions,  for  no  other  rdigion  offers  what  it  brings. 
It  is  the  best  that  the  world  contains.  Because  of  its  doctrine 
and  experience  of  the  perfect  God,  it  is  the  best  that  the  world 
can  attain.  Its  contents  can  be  unfolded  and  better  known,  out 
they  camot  be  essentially  un|»oved  upon.  At  heart,  Christianity 
is  simply  the  revelation  vf  the  perfect  God,  doing  the  work  of 
perfect  love  and  holiness  for  His  creatures,  and  transforming 
men  into  His  own  likeness,  so  that  they  will  do  works  of 
love  and  holiness  toward  their  fellows.  Than  this  nothing  can 
be  better.  Therefore,  Christianity  has  full  right  to  be  a  mis- 
sionary religion,  and  Christians  are  called  to  be  a  missionary 
peopte."— (Clasxs,  "  A  Study  of  Christian  Missk»s,"  p.  v>  IS.; 
The  American  Journal  of  Theology,  January,  1907,  art.  by 
Henby  C.  Mabie,  "  Has  Christianity  the  Moral  Right  to  Sup- 
plant tiie  Ethnic  Faidis?") 

Two  questions  remain  for  us  to  consider,  one,  I  think,  largely 
speculative,  the  other  intensely  practical.  Have  the  non-Chris- 
tian religions  prepared  the  way  for  Christianity?  And  what 
tboaid  be  attitade  of  Christiuttty  tovmni  the  non-Chr  'an 
rd^ions? 

On  the  first  of  these .  questions  conflicting  juclgments  <»re 
offered  to  us.  On  the  oat  side,  men  say  that  these  religions 
have  made  ready  for  the  acceptance  of  OT^Jstianity.  "  The  fun- 
damental requisites  of  all  religious  teacL.  ><_  "  says  J>r.  Martin 
of  China,  "are  two,  viz,  first,  a  belief  in  God,  i.e.,  in  some 
effective  method  of  divine  government;  second,  belief  in  tiie 
immortality  of  the  soul,  i.e.,  in  a  future  state  of  being,  whose 
condition  is  determined  by  our  conduct  in  the  present  life.  These 
cardinal  doctrines  we  find  accepted  everywhere  in  China.  There 
are,  it  is  true,  those  who  deny  them,  but  such  are  Confuciaaists, 
not  Buddhists;  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  for  the 
general  prevalence  of  both,  China  is  mainly  indebted  to  the 
agmqr  of  Bi^Wusts."  and  he  caSs  Bnt^nsm  a  "  ttodc  in  wbUk 
the  vine  of  Christ  may  be  grafted.**— (Cjb«M»r  Recordtr,  Umf, 


i9o        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

1889;  Art.  by  W.  A.  P.  Martin,  "  Is  Buddhism  a  Preparation 
for  Christianity?")    Canon  Isaac  Taylor  saw  in  Islam  "not 
an  anti-Christian  ^th,  but  a  half^Zhristian  faith,  an  imperfect 
Christianity,"  a  religion  preparatory  to  an  advanced  Christian 
faith,  an  advance  guard  for  Christian  missions  where  it  precedes 
Christianity  among  non-Christian  peoples.  Dr.  Timothy  Richard 
finds  m  the  Mahayana  School  of  Buddhism,  as  represented  espe- 
cially  ,n    The  Awakening  of  Faith"  of  Ashvagosha.  simply  m 
Asiatic  form  of  the  Gospel,  not  to  be  feared  as  a  foe,  but  to 
be  greeted  as  a  friend.   (Richard's  Translation  of  "  The  Awak- 
ening of  FJth."  pp.  vi,  viii.)    On  the  other  hand.  Dr.  Nevius 
held  that  the  non-Christian  religions,  as  the  bitter  experiences 
of  his  life  had  convinced  him,  instead  of  being  upward  steps 
of  man  in  an  advancing  evolutionary  movement  toward  the  truth 
were  in  practical  effect  devices  by  which  men  fell  away  from 
the  truth  and  buttressed  themselves  in  error.    In  his  book  on 

China  and  the  Chinese"  he  says  plainly  of  the  religions  of 

^^'f.  °^  ^  evidence  God's 

revelauon  of  Himself  in  the  human  soul,  are,  with  the  most  con- 
summate art,  so  devised  as  to  lead  the  soul  farther  and  farther 
from  God,  and  to  turn  the  truth  of  God  into  a  He."-(NEVius. 

China  and  the  Chinese."  p.  157.)  As  to  MohammedanisnL  Dr. 
De^Jiis  declares  that  we  .cannot  "consider  Islam  as  a  step  to- 
wards  Christianity.  It  is  rather  an  attitude  of  pronounced  op- 
position to  Cw-'  Canity,  and  not  to  Christianity  only,  but  to 
avihsation  and  to  all  social  and  intellectual  and  spiritual  prog- 
ress ^(Mtssumary  Review  of  the  World,  August,  1899:  Art 

Islam  and  Christian  Missions.")  And  Bishop  Lefr^  while 
with  Dr  Dennis  recognising  the  good  in  Islam,  is  constrained 
to  fear  that  "  m  the  subtiety  of  the  devil  those  very  truths  seem 
to  have  been  used  to  safeguard  a  citadel  of  fearful  error."- 
(Cambndge  Mission.  Occasiooal  Paper  ai.  "  Mohammedanlsm,- 

But  these  views  are  not  as  contradictory  as  they  appear, 
and  there  are  some  reconciling  suggestions  which  may  be 
made,  upon  some  of  which  at  least  all  will  agree,  (i)  A  re- 
ligious mind  is  much  better  for  Christianity  to  work  upon  thia 


CHRISTIANiry  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  agi 

an  irreligious  mind.  As  Archbishop  Benson  sdd  some  years  ago 

at  a  meeting  of  the  S.  P.  G.:  "A  religious  tone  of  mind, 
though  heathen,  is  a  better  field  for  Christian  effort  than  a 
non-religious  tone  of  nund.  .  .  .  It  is  not  true,  that  the  mind 
from  which  every  possiUe  superstition  has  been  banished,  until 
it  becomes  a  tabula  rasa,  is  in  a  better  state  of  receptivity  for 
the  truths  we  have  in  hand  than  a  mind  that  still  retains  its 
religious  tone.  ...  I  fear  that  If  wc  have  one  single  genera- 
tion intervening,  which  has  no  religious  habits,  no  thought  be- 
yond the  grave,  no  tone  which  makes  it  perpetually  look  up 
to  that  which  is  beyond  it  and  above  it,  we  shall  find  it  a  harder 
task  to  convert  the  children  of  that  generation  than  to  convert 
the  polished  heathen,  however  firmly  they  hold  to  their  old 
faith."  India  and  Japan  witness  to  the  reasonableness  of  this 
fear,  and  warn  the  destructive  forces  of  dviUsation  to  beware 
how  they  destroy  that  which  diqr  do  not  replace.  And,  indeed, 
in  every  mission  field,  as  a  stnq>le  matter  of  fact,  the  earnest 
and  serviceable  Christian  men  are  those  who  were  earnest  and 
zealous  followers  of  the  religion  of  their  fatiiers.  ChrManity 
will  succeed  best  where  it  has  religious  faculties  to  which  it 
can  give  new  objects,  not  where  it  must  both  give  the  objects 
and  create  tiie  faculties. 

(2)  But  the  non-Christian  religions  are  not  only  an  exerdae 
of  the  religious  faculties,  an  expression  of  the  religious  nature 
of  man,  they  are  also  encumbrances  upon  the  religious  nature. 
That  is  true  of  the  km  superstitkms  of  men  which  hold  them  in 
base  fear,  and  it  is  true  also  of  the  higher  religions,  for  reasons 
which  we  have  already  considered,  but  which  I  venture  to  set 
fortii  again  in  tiie  ^ar  statemc^  of  Dr.  Clarfce: 

As  for  the  low  religions,  fetishlstic  and  animistic,  they  may 
once  have  been  upward  calls,  though  they  called  but  a  littie  way 
upward;  but  they  are  not  such  now.  They  rule  by  terror,  and 
maintrin  a  tyranny  over  tiic  rdigkms  powers  of  those  who  live 
«o«er  them.  The  unseen  powers  that  are  worshipped  are  usually 
regar^  as  unfriendly,  and  dreaded  for  the  harm  that  they  can 
do.  Hence  the  perpetual  deprecations  and  propitiatrons.  Ages 
of  such  feeling  and  practice  have  produced  a  hi^tual  fm^i!^ 
nest,  aad  a  conpieli  VMAililgr  to  ilnke  off  llM  iaoAM  ^ 


292        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

Th«  religious  instinct  is  stopped  from  going  higher,  without 
being  really  satisfied,  and  the  religion  that  holds  it  thus  in  hard 
constraint  »  mtiier  an  encundvaiMC  tiiaa  aa  inM^ffftiqn  and  « 

comfort. 

The  higher  religions  would  seem  aUe  to  do  more  for  the 
satisfacbon  of  the  religious  nature.  Some  of  them  have  a  pro- 
found philosophy,  and  have  raised  certain  noble  souls  to  a  fervent 
devotion.  Some  of  them  contain  lofty  thoughts  and  worthy 
prayers,  uttered  and  recorded  long  ago  by  choice  spirits.  Yet 
m  sad  reahty  the  higher  religions  rank  with  the  lower,  as  en- 
cumbrances  upon  the  religious  nature  of  mankind.  How  true  this 
w,  and  how  it  comes  to  pass,  a  glance  at  some  facts  in  the  great 
nistonc  religions  will  suffice  to  show. 

In  Confucianism  the  religious  nature  of  man  is  almost  left 
out  of  account.  Among  the  common  people,  the  highest  satis- 
SSi«  rj'^T*',.'?  Provided  in  the  worshipping  of  an- 

cestors. The  field  of  religion  is  occupied  almost  wholly  by  ethics, 
and  by  ethics  moving  on  the  plane  of  human  rela&ms.  The 
whole  Confucian  system  is  exactiy  a  burden  or  encumbrance  on 
the  rehpous  nature,  preventing  it  from  coming  to  its  due  develop- 
mrat  Rehgion  suffers  from  being  subordinated  to  ethics.  In 
Buddhism,  and  m  Hinduism  too,  the  religious  nature  has  a 
different  weight  to  bear.  A  pessimistic  phUosophy  suppresses  It 
J.  universal  and  dominant  evil,  so  great  and  deep 

S?Lif  •  a  curae  to  those  who  suffer  it,  is  toS 

nrach  for  religious  life  and  feeling  to  thrive  under,  and  religion 
di«  down  diSTOuraged.  as  it  must  where  there  is  no  hope.  Re- 
ligion  suffers  from  being  complicated  with  a  philosophyof  de- 
Siw  fhl?  5!°^*"'""' "1  the  Baal-worship  that  th?  kebrews 

'  fast  wrought  in  with  the  non-moral 
mture-powers  and  the  animal  element  in  man,  and  the  com- 
biMbon  IS  commemorated  in  lustful  and  degrading  rites.  When 
expression  on  the  sidelf  feefing.  its  onSet 
S>m^  »«  J"  1**^*1'^  *«d  bloodshfd  and  lust 

n^H^/L"!i*"  r  Thus  the  religious  nature 

InfEJi  ^''''^°"t  '"5*^"  with  nature-powers 

Md  animal  impulses.  In  Mohammedanism  the  religious  niturt 
fads  yet  another  burden.  Here  there  is  one  Godrwho  iTde- 
dared  to  be  the  holy  and  merciful,  but  he  is  altieSer  trS^ 
^ndent  and  not  accessible  to  any  real  fellowship  of  m^  h"s 
I^t^-  I"  on'y  from  above  and  afar,  to  be  obeyed 

CTUy  In  absolute  submission,  not  in  filial  life  and  love.  So  the 
rehpous  nature  finds  no  warm  exercise,  and  is  set  fi«e  only  to 
works  of  obedient  routine  or  else  of  fanatioa  ferww/^RSlta 


CHRXSTtAmry  and  non-ghristian  reuoions  m 

sttffers  from  the  chill  of  bare  sovereignty.  Thus  in  one  of  the 
great  religions  the  religious  nature  of  man  is  imprisoned  in 
human  ethics;  in  another,  it  is  depressed  by  a  dark  philMimhy* 
in  another,  it  is  corrupted  by  coarse  feelmg;  in  anothn-,  it  is 
deadened  by  want  of  the  warmth  of  divine  love.  In  other  words, 
m  Confucianism,  where  the  religious  movement  is  ethical  the 
ethics  become  human  and  religion  is  lost  In  Buddhism,  where 
It  IS  philosophical,  the  philosophy  becomes  pessimistic,  and  re- 
ligion dies  out.  In  Hinduism,  where  it  is  emotional,  the  emotion 
b«omes  degrading,  and  religion  is  defiled.  In  Mohammedanism, 
""If  "  doctrinal,  the  doctrine  becomes  cold  and  lifeless 
and  religion  is  atrophied.  Everywhere  the  great  historic  religions 
of  the  world  have  come  to  be  encumbrances  upon  the  religious 
nahire  of  man  Everywhere  it  is  the  reUgious  nature  that  suffers 
under  their  influence.  Nowhere  is  that  nature  permitted  to  rise 

J^A*!!*"!!*  P!r°^1*°?^       '*«^«'°J>  worth.— (Claeke. 

A  Study  of  Christian  Missions,'^ pp.  iM-105.) 

These  religions  do  contain  forcgleams  of  trutii,  or  as  some 

would  say,  aftergleams,  but  their  errors  and  contradictions  of 
truth  are  essential  and  integral  parts  of  them.  Take  Buddhism, 
for  example.  " It  progressed  up  to  a  certain  point;  it  preached 
purity  in  thought,  word,  and  deed,  though  only  for  the  accumu- 
lation  of  merit;  it  proclaimed  the  brotherhood  of  humanity; 
it  avowed  sympathy  with  social  liberty  and  freedom;  it  gave 
back  much  independence  to  women;  it  faicttlcated  universal 
benevolence,  extending  even  to  animals;  and  from  its  declaration 
that  a  man's  future  depended  on  his  present  acts  and  conditions, 
II  did  good  service  for  a  time  in  preventing  stagnation,  promoting 
■ctivity,  and  elevatfaig  the  character  of  humantty.  Bat  if,  af^ 
making  all  these  concessions,"  says  Sir  Monier  Williams,  "  I  am 
told  that  on  my  own  showing  Buddhism  was  a  kind  of  introduc- 
tion to  Christianity,  or  that  Christianity  is  a  kind  of  development 
of  Buddhism,  I  must  ask  you  to  bide  with  me  a  little  ksofer,  while 
I  point  out  certain  contrasts,  which  ought  to  make  it  clear  to 
any  reasonable  man  how  vast,  how  profound,  how  impassable 
is  the  gulf  separating  the  true  religkm  from  a  mere  system  of 
morality  founded  on  a  form  of  pessimistic  philosophy."— 
(MoNiM  WiLUAMS,  "Mystical  Buddhism,"  p.  24.)    And  then 
ht  proceeds  to  point  out  hose  radical  contradictions  between 


294        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

Buddhism  and  Christianity,  which  can  only  be  regarded  as  a 
preparation  for  Christianity  in  the  same  sense  in  which  error 
IS  a  preparation  for  truth.  In  simple  fact,  there  are  agreements 
and  disagreements  in  fundamental  things  between  Christianity 
and  each  orher  religion.  The  disagreements  overbalance  the 
agreements  and  constitute  the  essential  character  of  Christianity 
The  question  would  seem  to  be  as  to  whether  the  truths  which 
the  non-Christian  religions  hold  will  draw  them  to  Christianity 
more  powerfuUy  than  their  errors  will  repel  them  from  it. 

(3)  In  theory  the  non-Christian  religions  are  expressions  of 
man's  sense  of  need  and  incompleteness,  and  viewed  as  seekings 
after  God,  ought  to  prepare  men  for  the  full  truth.  Twilight 
ought  to  prepare  for  day,  unless,  indeed,  it  be  the  other  twilight. 
Phillips  Brooks  has  put  the  noUe  view  of  the  welcome  fulfil- 
ment by  Christianity  of  all  the  hopes  of  men  in  his  sermon  on 
"Disciples  and  AposUes."  ("Twenty  Sermons,"  Sermon  IX. 
p.  170.)  ^ 

I  tWnk  again  that  it  is  wonderful  how  many  people  who 

fo^'tS2f*L£r^f^y  t  ^'P*»        *e  work  that  it  Ss 

£-         V*  ■Ji  conception  of  what  the  Gospel 

has  to  do  for  Ae  world,  and  so  have  false  conceptions  about 
the  whole  possibility  of  missions.    They  talk  as  If  whatSe 

I  HS"uy*'-i*'*J  8°  »  P«^f«^t  stranger  imS 

a  daik  land,  with  whose  people  it  had  before  had  no  Concern, 
to  Mst  out  everything  that  thev  had  ever  believed,  to  falsify  3 

S***^  i^^^'  ^  *^^J?  a"  °ver  again.    Perhaps  they 

thought  the  same  thing  once  about  themselves.    PerhaSs  SeJ 

SXd  to^tSi;  TiS."!***  &  Christianity,  because  Christianity 
seeniedto  them  to  be  the  utter  destruction  of  all  that  they  had 
S^,7^i'  °I  °;  hoped.   They  could  not  understand  it. 

It  was  an  strange  and  foreign  to  them.    But  by  and  bv  Christ 
really  came,  and  lo !  He  was  the  revealer  of  that  Sd  7u 

^rrl?l?J£il?%t*"*  M  °*  thanksgiving.  The  old  hopes 
ISI^-c  T    fu  Ignorant  prayers  were  fulfilled.  It 

7ud^.  "Th?M*  ^f!°f^^  ^tnt  out  and  cried  up  and  down 
Judea.  The  Messiah  has  come."  and  Judea  undehtood  itself 
It  was  as  when  PatU  stood  on  Mars  flill  and  cried  "Whom 
you  «norantly  worsWp  Him  declare  I  unto  you  Md  thc^r 
to  the  unknown  God  burst  for  the  first  tin  fatTttiirl^ 


CHWsnANmr  and  non-christian  reugions  m 

blaze  of  an  intelH^  sacrifice.  And  that  is  vhat  the  Christian 
religion,  fulfiUinp  its  missionary  duty,  has  to  do  for  all  the  worid. 
Jt  is  the  great  interpreter  of  the  religious  heart  of  man.  Its 
manifested  God  speaks,  and  the  dhrtne  voices  throughmit  all  tihe 
world  berame  mtelliriWe.  Its  message  is  declared,  and  countless 
oracles,  that  were  all  bhnd,  win  a  clear  meaning.  Its  sacrifice  is 
held  up,  and  the  heathen  altar  drops  its  veil  of  superstition  and 
discerns  its  own  long-lost  intention.  lu  Son  of  Man  goes  with 
His  gracious  footsteps  throu^  the  hosts  of  htaOtea  barbariuM. 
and  their  sonship  to  God  leaps  into  coosctoasness  am!  life. 

This  is  the  noble  view  which  we  all  want  to  believe.  But 
did  Judea  understand  itself  when  it  saw  Christ?  Did  the  altar 
on  Mars'  Hill  blaze  after  Paul  with  tne  fire  of  an  intelligent 
sacrifice,  the  sacrifice  of  the  broken  heart  made  new?  Among 
the  hosts  of  the  non-Christian  peoples,  does  their  sonship  to 
God  leap  into  consciousness  and  life  and  obedience  at  the  sound 
of  the  Gospel?  Did  it  wtieti  Dr.  HaU  preached  to  them  with 
as  conciliatory  and  winning  a  voice  as  it  is  possible  for  the 
Gospel  to  use,  and  when  Phillips  Brooks  talked  witt»  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen?  Is  it,  after  all,  not  a  simple  question  of  facU? 
Judaism  prepared  the  way  for  Christianity,  but  it  did  not  pre- 
pare the  Jews  for  either  Christianity  or  Christ   He  came  unto 
His  own  and  His  own  received  Him  not    Phillips  Brooks 
preached  to  men  the  Lord  Christ's  fulfilment  of  the  hopes  and 
longings  of  their  hearts,  and  here  and  tiien  •  mas  answered 
and  was  made  complete  in  Christ,  but  the  great  mass  of  those 
who  heard  him  were  only  as  those  who  had  listened  to  a  pleai^ant 
song.  There  was  a  time  when  Dr.  Barrows  also  he'-*  this  view. 
'"The  glory  of  Christianity!'  said  Professor  Jowett,"  wrote 
Dr.  Barrows  in  tiie  full  flush  of  enthusiasm  over  his  pariiament, 
"'  is  not  to  be  as  unlike  other  religions  as  possible,  but  to  be 
tiieir  perfection  and  fulfilment'   As  Judaism  and  ChritttonHy 
were  reconciled  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  so  Buddhism 
and  Christianity,  Hinduism  and  Christianity,  Confucianism  and 
Christianity,  Islam  and  Christianity,  are  yet  to  be  reconciled 
by  some  supreme  minds,  who  will  show  to  India,  China,  Japan, 
Arabia,  tiiat  in  Christ  all  that  is  good  and  true  in  their  faiths 
BM  been  embodied  and  completed  by  a  special  revelation."  {Th* 


ag6        CHRISTIANITy  AND  THE  NATIONS 

Forum,  September,  1894,  art.  by  J.  H.  Bamows,  "  Results  of 
the  Parliament  of  Religions,"  p.  62.)  Well,  those  supreme  minds 
will  have  to  do  their  proposed  work  more  effectively  than  the 
writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  did  his.  So  Judaism  and 
Christianity  were  reconciled  in  that  Epistle?   Where,  then,  did 
the  Judaism  we  have  known  ever  since  come  from,  the  million 
of  Jews  in  New  York  City  who  are  unreconciled  to  Christianity? 
The  Epistle  demonstrated  the  superiority  and  fulfilling  ^ory  of 
Christianity,  but  it  neither  made  Christians  of  the  Jews  nor  ab- 
sotted  Judaism  in  Christianity.   The  Gk)spel  came  to  the  Jews 
as  it  goes  now  to  the  world.  Some  men,  at  least,  have  preached 
it  without  denying  it.   It  has  found  here  and  there  the  sheep 
of  Christ,  who  have  recognised  their  Shepherd's  voice.  But, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  non-Christian  religions  have  thus  far 
proved  as  poor  schoolmasters  as  Judaism  to  bring  men  to  Christ. 
It  may  be  held  that,  with  Judaism,  this  was  their  mission,  but 
that  is  to  throw  us  back  on  the  mystery  of  God's  method  in  the 
edncatkm  of  mankind,  and  it  is  to  present  to  faith  a  proposition 
regarding  the  philosophy  of  historj'  as  yet  unconfirmed  by  the 
facts.    Some  day  we  shall  know  what  part  the  non-Christian 
religions  played  in  the  economy  of  God.  We  do  not  know  now. 

What,  then,  we  ask  finally,  shouM  be  the  attitade  of  Chris- 
tianity toward  them? 

The  New  Testament  apostles  and  the  Old  Testament  prophets 
had  to  deal  either  with  non-Christian  religions  or  with  faiths 
at  variance  with  Hebrew  monotheism.  Without  sharing  his 
critktsm,  we  will  let  a  modem  writer  describe  their  attitude: 

Paul  judges  the  alien  religions  from  the  position  of  strict 
Jewish  monotheism,  and  his  esUmate  of  them  is  Utcking  in  breadth 
and  sympathy.  He  makes  no  alk)wance  for  tfie  elements  of  good 
that  were  mingled  with  the  error,  for  the  higher  thoughts  and 
aspirations  which  had  only  found  an  imperfect  utterance.  Com- 
paring Christianity  with  Paganism  he  saw  nothing  but  an  un- 
qualified contrast  of  light  and  darkness,  knowledge  and  ignorance, 
life  and  death  When  we  apply  it  literally  to  any  form  of  heathen 
religion,  Paul  s  criticism  is  inadequate  and  unjust ;  but  none  the 
jess  we  cannot  but  recc«nise  the  truth  at  the  heart  of  it  The 
heate  spirit,  which  rcftiies  to  know  the  invitibte  tlilagi  by  tfM 


CHRISTIANmr  AND  NON^HRISTIAN  REUGIONS  197 

Hum  Hut  are  made,  is  always  the  same,  under  many  different 
manifestations.  It  was  this  spirit  which  Paul  condemned  with 
unequalled  power  and  insight,  and  his  words  have  stiU  their 
meaning  and  their  warning  for  our  world  to-day. 

•  ?  "  *«o™  «»  Paul's  psychology  that  the  roCe,  the  inward 
mmd  whKh  is  the  core  of  man's  being,  is  directed  to  God, 
although  Its  will  IS  rendered  impotent  by  the  will  of  the  flesh.  In 
the  case  of  the  Jews,  this  inward  mind  was  stiU  stnuzKUne  to 
assert  itself,  but  the  heathen,  puffed  up  with  the  8ens?5f5eir 

tZZ  hl^T!tliiS^jS°l^'^  ^°J^y  paralysed.  Spiritual  beings, 
they  had  demed  tiwir  higher  afftiities,  and  had  offered  their  v/or- 
ship  to  the  merely  natural,  putting  the  creature  in  place  of  the 
Creator.  Not  only  was  the  true  mind  thus  rendered  inoperative, 
but  since  they  cared  not  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge.  He 
SfJH^*?"  1  reprobate  mind."  The  light  that  was  in 
them  changed  into  darkness;  the  divine  principle  was  replaced 
by  an  active  principle  of  evil,  which  wholly  mastered  *hem 

It  may  be  objected  to  Paul's  analysis  that  it  is  not  in  strict 
accordance  with  histoncal  fact    Heathenism,  as  we  are  now 
a^Mwre,  was  not  m  its  origin  a  rebellion  against  the  sovereignty  of 
Ood.  It  was  not  the  corruption  of  a  highe- primitive  faith,  but 
the  first  stage  m  a  religious  development.   Ev,  ^  Jewish  mono- 
theism was  preceded  by  crude  forms  of  nature-worship,  which 
only  gradually  gave  way  to  the  ethical  teaching  of  the  great 
pr^ets.    Paul  s  real  object,  however,  is  not  to  trace  out  the 
Historical  genesis  of  Pagan  religion,  but  to  determine  its  ultimate 
meaning  and  character.   It  had  set  the  creature  in  Cm  place  of 
the  Creator.    It  had  faUed  to  perceive  that  above  the  natural 
there  is  a  spiritual  worid,  in  reUtion  to  which  man's  life  and 
destiny  must  be  interpreted.   The  heathen  were  "  without  God 
m  the  world     (Eph.  ii:i2);  and  through  their  bUndness  to 
the  supreme  reality  their  life  was  reduced  to  a  chaos,  thf*r 
feelmgs  and  thoughts  and  actions  were  hopelessly  perverted.  In 
Its  substance,  Paul's  criticism  thus  holds  good,  not  merely  in 
rMard  to  heathen  worship  proper,  but  in  regard  to  the  naturalism 
which  threatens  ever  and  again  to  displace  religion.  Laplace, 
asked  by  Napoleon  whether  he  allowed  no  room  for  (God 
within  his  system,  is  said  to  have  declared,  "  I  do  not  find  that 
L*^"!?!^         hypothesis.**   Paul  would  answer  ihat  the 
world  t>ecomes  simplv  unintelligible  to  those  who  will  not  retain 
uod  m  their  knowledge.  Professing  themselves  to  be  wise,  they 
are  made  foolish.  Their  error  may  not  be  demonstrable  hf  rea- 
joo,  but  It  com^  to  light  in  the  practical  attempt  to  liv  as  though 
mere  wert  no  God  above  the  natural  forces.  Such  a  h  e  contaua 


agS        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

Ae*L2rJ'SS%il'*^**'"*i^'?-  *he  spiritual  and 

£J  ^^r.^  *Hc*°  «nPt»ed  of  its  inward  mean- 

Shall  we  take  the  same  attitude  with  St.  Paul,  or  has  our 
taowWge  of  rdtgions.  of  which  Paul  was  ignorant,  and  our 
view  of  God  s  relation  to  the  world  made  that  impossible?  But 
no  one  knows  the  non-Christian  religions  better  than  :he  men 
wno  from  a  long  personal  association  with  them  as  adherents 
are  now  m  a  position  to  compare  them  with  Christianity,  which 
they  have  come  to  know  by  personal  experience,  men  like  Nehe- 
iniah  Goreh  and  Imad-ud  din.    Shall  we  take  their  attitude? 
Dr.  Imad-ud  dm  tells  us:  "  I  found  nothing  in  Mohammedanism 
from  which  an  unprejudiced  man  might  in  his  heart  derive 
true  hope  and  real  comfort,  though  I  searched  for  it  earnestly 
m  the  Koran,  the  Traditions,  and  also  in  Sufism.  Rites,  cere- 
monies, and  theories  I  foond  in  abondance.  but  not  the  slightest 
spiritual  benefit  does  a  man  get  by  acting  on  them.   He  remains 
lit        "i-*^*        of  darkness  and  death.  ...  I  discovered 
Aat  the  religion  of  Mohammed  is  not  of  God.  and  that  the 
Mohammedans  have  been  deceived,  and  are  lying  in  error;  and 
that  salvation  is  surely  to  be  found  in  the  Christian  religion" 
It  must  be  recognised  that  this  is  tlie  general  attitude  of  Chris- 
tians who  had  been  Mohammedans  or  Hindus  or  beUevers  in 
■ome  other  faith.  As  Dr.  H.  Martya  dark  says: 

_,.T*^  pnanimity  of  all  converts  from  Islam  concemine  that 
rel  gion  is  emphatic  and  startling.  "Earthly  sensiwl  de3i,h  " 
.s  invariably  in  effect  their  delif eranS^  N^ot  ^e  of  them  has 
ever  found  it  aught  else  but  an  evil  and  debasbg  thinr  Thev 

Stf,e"2«  hlS?^  ''''''''  °^  vitalising  Vwef  of  anT 

of  the  truths  It  IS  supposed  to  contain.    The  statement  that  ft 

iZ'^'^K'T^'  K      'i^^^  *  to  them.  aSd^wl  enlU 

have  been  discovered  to  exist,  their  answer,  to  tS 
and  other  theories  now  rather  the  fashion  concerninrisSm  is 

Sf^S^athTJ^C?^  "  "  It  was  our  faS  anrthi 

of  our  fathers  before  us;  we  do  not  know  of  these  thinirs  nor 
have  we  so  found  it."  As  for  its  being  a  help  toww,fa  gS  ^ 
good.  It  has  been  their  sorest  hindrance  in  tfce  wly  of  Kfe  ft 


CHRISTIANnY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  REUGIONS  299 

has madetiie aoxptance of  Christian  truth  all  the  more  difficult, 
and  the  Christian  life  infinitely  harder.  One  of  the  best  native 
pastors  said:  "After  many  years  of  Christianity  the  poison  of 
Mohammedanism  still  works  in  our  muscles  aiH]  makes  us  weak." 
They  err  who  think  Islam  a  development,  an  advance  from  a 
lower  to  a  higher  plane.  It  is  in  reality  a  retrogression,  a  de- 
generation from  a  higher  to  a  lower  state.  I  took  one  convert 
to  task  for  his  unbridled  speech.  His  reply  was:  "My  father 
you  can  afford  to  speak  kindly  of  the  thing.  You  were  never 
steraed  to  the  lips  in  that  mire  as  I  have  been.  Were  it  not  for 
God  s  lercy,  where  would  I  be  now?  "—(From  The  Church  Mis- 
sionary Intelligencer,  November,  1894:  "Some  Results  of  tiw 
Late  Mohammedan  Controversy,"  by  Da.  H.  Maityh  Clabx, 

p.  814  n.} 

There  are  converts  who  take  a  different  attitude.  A  friend 
writes  from  India  of  a  Christian  layman,  once  a  Mohammedan, 
who  is  now  a  great  champion  of  Christianity  as  against  the 
Moslem  religious  prcqniganda,  and  who  says: 

I  have  been  proving  the  sublimity  of  the  Christian  religion 
and  endeavouring  to  show  that  the  Christian  counterpart  of 
everything  good  in  doctrine  and  morality  in  Islam  is  always 
superior,  and  that  Mohammedanism,  even  at  its  highest,  is  only 
the  next  best,  and  that  from  a  true  Koranic  point  of  view  the 
religion  of  the  Gospels  is  open  to  no  question  whatever  It  it 
rather  the  goal  to  which  aU  the  religions  of  the  worid  aspire  to 
reach.  My  conception  of  Islam  is  more  optimistic.  I  despair 
of  the  Islam  which  obtains  among  the  so-called  Orthodox,  and 
It  is  only  these  whose  weakness  I  would  expose.  The  Islam  of 
the  Koran,  with  its  Asian  Christology,  is  a  fine  amalgam  of  In- 
diaism  and  Chnsfaamty.  It  is  the  Nazarene  form  of  Christianity, 
confounded  with  certam  social  and  religious  prejudices  of  the 
tune  and  the  country,  and  can  be  very  rightly  regarded,  "  rather 
as  a  heresy  than  as  an  alien  faith,"  but  not  more  heretical  than 
«o  many  ancient  and  modem  ones. 

What  then,  amid  these  divergent  views,  shall  we  say  that  tibt 
attittide  of  Christianity  ought  to  be? 

I.  First  of  all,  it  should  be  consistent  Cbristianitv  in  die 
missionary  enterprise,  in  its  special  lecturers  and  representatives, 
and  in  its  reception  of  representatives  of  the  non-Christian 


300        CHRISTIANITy  AND  THE  NATIONS 

ligions  when  they  visit  Western  lands,  should  take  a  consisteiit 
position.  The  relations  of  Christianity  to  the  other  religions 
are  not  variable.  If  it  is  our  right  and  duty  to  take  an  attitude 
in  foreign  missions  and  to  project  onr  enterprise  on  the  con. 
viction  that  Christianity  is  the  universal  religion,  and  ougkt  to 

^l^ut  ^^^y  "«*er  just  nor  tomtr- 

•we  to  beHe  that  attitude  in  any  of  our  relations 

2  Christianity  should  joyfuUy  recognise  afl  the  good  that 

"JL?'.T'^^"'*'^  ^"^  ^""d  "Pon  it-   This  is  the 

attitude  it  has  taken  from  the  beginning  of  the  historv  of  its 
nuss^  relations.    Hamack  ha.  ekxjuently  described  its 

From  the  very  outset  Christianity  came  forward  with  a  soirit 

f/Ji^*c  *  i  '**  '"nations,  throughout  its  heights  and  deptlk 
m  all  Its  feelings,  thoughts,  and  actions.  Thii  guanmteS  ite 
tnumph  In  and  with  its  universalism  it  also  declS?eTtSt  t£ 
Jesus  whom  it  preached  was  the  Logos.  To  him  it  refwred  everv! 
gin^  Aat  could  pos^bly  he  deemed  of  human  viurand  S 
p  "^.u''*''"'*^!^''**'^^^'"  belonged  to  the  pui^y  natund 
H^n£  .h*"*""  **Jf  ""^"y^''^    embraced  humanity  iid  tiJe  worM 

ri^hJi  ^  ''^'y  of  attraction,  by  means 

A.  ihS.  of^  '"^  f  i'""  *°  ""^'^  and  to  sulirSnate 
Hie  whole  of  Hellenism,  had  a  ne    light  thrown  un^n  tw^ 

^ey  appeared  almost  in  the  li.ht  of  a  nVcesi^T&Kn  S 

age    Sm  and  foulness  it  put  far  from  itself.  Burotherwiselt 

bmlt  itself  up  by  the  aid  of  any  element  whatsoever  that  J^  stiS 

capaWe  of  vitality.   Such  elements  it  crushed  as  ryals  MdcSi^ 

served  as  materials  of  its  own  Ufe.  It  could  do  ifo?on?^ 

-a  -eason  which  no  one  voiced,  and  of  which  no  Sie  ^?^ 

SessedS  hS^lS'^'S^y  """"^^  °f  the  a,J?ch^- 
pressed  m  his  own  life.  The  reason  was  that  Christianity  vipJ^ 

SJ?  *?r'*'^^'  something  simple,  some^rwhi^h  co^ 
blend  with  coefficients  of  the  most  diverse  nature  wme5hh^2 
which,  m  fact,  sought  out  all  such  coefficients.  For  olSjffiSf 

R^'^S^"*  God  as  the  FatherfSe  jSC^ 

the  Redeemer  of  men,  revealed  in  and  through  Jesus  ChriS 
And  wa'  not  victory  the  due  to  this  relfmon  ? 

•tin  less  cottW  It  succumlx  Yes,  victoiy  was  iifSSSe.  It  hSi 


CHWSTIANmr  AND  NON^rHRISTIAN  REUGIONS  301 

to  conquer.  AB  tiw  nothres  which  operated  in  its  extension  are 
as  nothing  when  taken  one  by  one,  in  face  of  the  propaganda 
which  It  exercised  by  means  of  its  own  devdopment  f rSnSS 
to  Origen,  r  development  which  maintaiiMirHSd  a  strktlv 
^usive  atwtude  toward  polytheini  and  idohtiy  of  emy 

It  has  been  our  endeavour  to  decipher  the  reasons  for  this 
astonishing  expansion.  These  reasons,  on  the  one  h^id  were 

Js  Tvlneelf  ^S^thf'r  °if  ^M'"*^^"  («.  «>«>theism  and 
as  evangel).   On  the  other  hand,  they  lay  in  its  versatilitv  and 

amzing  power  of  adaptation.  But  itl«flfes  us  to  deSS  iS^ 

relative  amount  of  impetus  exerted  by  each  of  the  forcesWhSi 

characterised  Christianity;  to  ascertaij,  e.g..  tow  much  w J  dS 

to  Its  spiritual  monotheism,  to  its  preih^  of  JeTus  ChSt  to 

ite  hope  of  unnwrtaUty  to  its  active*^ charify'and  syst«n  of  2dS 

aKj  to  Its  disaphne  and  organisation,  to  ite  syncr^tistic  «S 

and  contour,  or  to  the  skill  which  it  developed  in  the  thSdwX 

tury  for  surpassing  the  fascinations  of  ai^superstition  wK 

God,  for  whom  man  was  made.   It  also  broiS^nTen  life  a"? 
^^^{.T^  r^.  multiplicity,  the  known  ^d  Ae  untootn 
Bom  of  the  spirit,  it  soon  learnt  to  consecrate  the  earthly  To 
the  simple  1  was  simple;  to  the  subUme,  sublime  T was  a 

urn"S'«i?'°"U'","'*-^f«  *^  it  «S»edTe^epts  l^SnS 
upon  an  men,  and  aim  m  the  sense  that  it  brought  men 

^C^^^^tf.^^U'^''^-.  Christianity  becail  a  On^ 
a  Church  for  the  world,  and  thereby  it  secured  the  use  ofiS 

Ze?'.  "fT"  f  the  swor?  iSSf    It  of 

S  th^t^  exclusive,  and  yet  it  drew  to  itsdf  any  outside  dS- 
Sl  human  S  °*  ''ny  vjdue.   By  this  sign  it  conquered ;  for  on 
•L.         •  °"  ^hat  was  eternal,  and  on  what  was  transient 

sti'ofrT  ^""^  cross.-L(HARNAT^  "  Tto  SS? 

This  minus  the  conqmjmises,  is  what  Christianity  is  doine 
still.  It  must  build  on  something;  it  cannot  build  on  nothing 
ft  builds  as  ever  on  aU  that  it  finds  that  is  capable  of  redemj- 
toon,  of  being  wrought  mto  the  eternal  and  universal  kingdom. 

It  IS  m  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  enter  sympathetkaBy  the 
past  of  Japan  and  China,  and  the  wonderful  reach  and  wide- 

ilS  *  5!!!°'^:        P"*  "P°°       ''holt  expanse  the 

hghtof  ftsowndhriiiehiterpfetatioii.  It  can.  in  a  way,  identify 


3oa        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

itself  with  the  great  traditions  of  all  these  people,  make  them 
Uve  their  long  histories  over  again,  and  read  their  deeper  mean- 
fagi  into  itself.   It  can,  without  in  the  least  endangering  its 
unique  character,  appear  in  the  light  of  thoM  empires,  aod 
come  m  the  colours  which  are  dear  to  them;  it  can  put  on  as 
dress  many  of  the  intellectual  habits  that  are  inseparable  from 
their  constitution.  Until  the  Jew  saw  his  Judaism  transfigured 
m  Christianity,  he  could  not  abandon  the  old  faith  for  the  new; 
until  the  Greek  beheld  the  vision  of  Plato  under  grander  forms' 
m  the  mission  of  Christ,  he  could  not  forsake  the  Academy  for 
the  Church ;  until  the  Roman  discovered  in  the  sign  of  the  cross 
a  diviner  form  of  the  victorious  power  after  which  he  thirsted, 
he  could  not  change  his  aUegiance;  and  until  China  shall  see 
Confucius  idealised  and  transcended  m  our  Master,  and  Japan 
her  beggarly  elements  glorified  in  the  Christian  inheritance,  and 
India  her  sublime  names  taken  out  of  the  region  of  imagina- 
tx»  and  in  cor  Lord  made  the  equivalent  of  the  moral  order  of 
the  universe,  we  cannot  expect  them  to  become  His  disdples."— 
(G.  A.  Gordon.  "  The  Gospel  of  Humanity,"  p.  14.)    This  is 
precisely  the  attitude  of  the  missionary  movement  It  welcomes 
and  uses  and  completes  aU  that  it  can.  It  borrows  aU  the  familiar 
vocabulary  that  can  be  .  ade  tributary  to  the  htger  truth 
(Kellv,  "Another  China,"  p.  49.)    It  roots  its  conceptions  in 
w!      er  is  found  akin  to  them.    It  makes  any  such  kindred 
ide.     he  grounds  of  appeal  to  the  home  Church.  A  misskmary 
rails  .or  larger  work  among  the  AH  Illahees  in  Persia  because 
'  (a)  They  believe  in  incarnations  of  the  Deity,    (b)  Many  of 
them  venerate  David  as  their  greatest  prophet.    Hence  they 
are  willing  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  David's  Son,  Jesus,   (c)  Curi- 
ous customs  exist  among  them  which  might  almost  be  considered 
as  borrowed  from  a  crude  form  of  Christianity."  It  is  on  what 
is  common  ground  alone  that  men  can  meet.   It  is  the  power 
already  working  in  men  that  is  to  be  consecrated  and  enlarged 
and  turned  to  the  will  of  God.    (Dennis,  "Islam  and  Chris- 
t«n»ty,"  p.  19.)  The  words  of  Principal  Grant's  introduction  to 
his  httle  book  on  "  The  Rcl^ioas  of  the  World  "  (tescrfte  truly 
the  attitude  of  missions: 


CHRISnANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  303 

The  wnter  of  this  little  volume  believes  that  Jesus  is  "  the 
way,  the  truth,  and  the  life,"  and  that  His  religion  is  the  absolute 
religion.  Therefore,  he  believes  it  to  be  rif^t  and  wise  to  call 
attention  to  the  excellent  features  of  other  reKgions  rather  than 
to  their  defects ;  to  the  good  rather  than  to  the  bad  fruit  which 
they  have  borne ;  in  a  word,  to  treat  them  as  a  rich  man  should 
treat  his  poorer  brothers,  drawing  near  to  and  touching  them 
getting  on  common  ground,  and  then  sharing  with  them  his  rich 
inheritance.  He  does  not  pretend  tfiat  an  adequate  account  will 
be  found  here  of  all  the  phases  of  any  one  of  the  great  religions  • 
but  a  sketch  is  attempted,  in  the  spirit  that  should  animate  an 
intelligent  Confucianist,  Hindoo,  Buddhist,  or  Mohammedan,  to 
whom  the  task  of  describing  Christianity  briefly  was  as^gMd. 

It  is  these  words  which  Mr.  Slater  quotes  when  he  sets 
forth  the  actual  attitude  of  the  men  and  women  who  are  doing 
the  woric  of  fore%n  mtsaioas  in  tiie  midtt  of  tihe  iioii<3iristitti 
faiths: 

He  who  reverently  and  sympathetically  studies  the  way  in 
which  various  races  have  worshipped  God,  while  loathfaw  tiw 
degrading  rite  still  loving  the  misguided  devotee.  wiU  incraue 
his  power  to  lead  on  his  feUow-men  to  greater  light;  since  the 
measure  of  a  man's  fcjve  is  the  measure  of  his  power.  We  shall 
never  gam  the  non-Christian  world  until  we  treat  its  religions 
with  justice,  courtesy,  and  love ;  "  treat  them  as  a  rich  ma  i  should 
treat  his  poorer  brothers,  drawing  near  to  them,  getting  01  an- 
mon  .ground  with  them,  and  then  sharing  with  them  his  rich 
mhentance.  For  those  religious  truths  which  have  been  vene- 
rated for  ages  as  the  felt  facts  of  man's  inner  consciousness, 
we  claim  for  the  spiritual  Christ  who  was  immanent  as  grace 
and  truth  in  human  thought  prior  to  the  Incamatimi,  the  Ughlt 
of  every  saint  and  seer  who  has  relieved  the  darkacsa  oftte 
pagan  world. 

Religions  illuminate  one  .her;  and  though  it  is  true  that 
other  shastras  yield  the  stu  nt  of  the  New  Testament  little 
spintual  aliment  for  his  soul,  yet  Christianity  cannot  be  fuHy 
appreciated  unless  viewed  in  relation  to  other  historic  faiths- 
and  the  study  of  comparative  religion,  which  should  be  diligentiy 
pursued  by  all  intending  missionaries,  and  which  demonstrates, 
not  only  that  man  was  made  for  religion,  Lut  what  religion  he 
was  made  for,  is  one  of  the  most  promising  and  fmitftit  for 
the  future  of  the  Church  and  of  the  worid.  Discoverine  as  it 
does,  points  of  contact  and  dements  of  truth  in  systemsoutside 


m        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

?u^'        u°  ^'^5     ""e*"  isolation  from  the  rest, 

but  that  each  being  the  manifestation  of  a  human  want,  has 

ill*  I  P'**=^  *°  fi"'  and  a  work  to  do.  Se 

great  evolutionary  scheme;  it  has  led  to  the  cultivation  of  a 
Si^^K  L  n»«  generous  spirit  towards  these  ancient  faiths 
which  have  endured  precisely  according  to  the  amount  of  truth 
they  have  contained,  to  the  ^tness  of  their  doctrine  for  the 
special  circumstances  of  race  and  culture,  and  to  the  deirree 
m  which  they  have  witnessed  to  Him  Who  is  the  "  Heir  oTaH 
ilStheSm."  prophecies  of 

riJZ  *Ilf  °^  5  Providential  guidance,  those  religious  so- 
ciet  es  that  have  advanced  through  centuries  of  growth  imd 

Zvn"        P^*^'* '  'y^^y  °^  human  interests  and  Tn- 

devours  their  aspirations  and  their  miseries,  in  their  temples 
taws,  and  homes,  are  destined  for  a  diviner  purpose  thTn  to 
be  swept  away  as  vestiges  of  evil,  with  no  messagV  to  be  dehtw^ 
to  the  modem  world.  For.  rightly  conceivin|  the  dS  iSd 
heigh   and  exceeding  breadth  of  Christ's  relfgion.  wrbLhdd 

avihsations;  drawing  into  its  pure  and  onward  current  aU  lfl»t 
ToV^V:"  Vrtu^^nd  truth;  finding  «p^ssiS 

for  ail  the  various  aspirations  that  are  separately  emphasised 
by  the  old  religions;  gathering  up.  explaining%nd  cLsumma 

3.  But  in  the  third  place,  aristianity  should  not  slur  or 
Ignore  the  points  of  difference.  These  points  of  difference  are 
radical.  It  is  from  them  that  the  missionary  movement  springs. 
fL«17  "  '•^•fi'^ance.  aristianity's  whole  claim,  both 
abroad  and  at  Iiome,  is  untenable.  But  the  comparison  of  re- 
hgions  reveals  the  vital,  or  perhaps  we  should  say  the  deadly 
reality  of  the  distinctions  between  Christianity  and  other  faiths. 
KecaJI  Hinduism,  for  example,  as  the  religion  whose  opposition 
to  Christianity  to-day  rests  on  the  claim  that  it  indudes  aO  the 
truth  of  Christianity.  Is  it  so?  Christianity  asserts  the  exist- 
erce  of  a  personal  God.  Hinduism,  except  as  influenced  by  aris- 
tianity denies  it.  Christianity  asserts  the  separateness  of  man 
and  aU  creature,  from  the  Creator.  Hinduitm.  except  aa  laati. 


CHRISTZANmr  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  REUGIONS  305 

enced  by  Christianity,  affirms  that  they  arc  identical  with  God. 
Christianity  asserts  the  freedom  of  the  wiH  Hinduism,  excq»t 
as  influenced  by  Christianity,  denies  it,  and  affirms  an  unh^nifji^ 
necessity.  Christianity  assumes  the  trustworthiness  of  our 
own  consciousness.  Hinduism,  except  as  influenced  by  Chris- 
tianity, denies  it;  all  is  maya,  fflusion.  (Keluwg,  " Hiadninn," 
p.  12.)  Christianity  has  far  more  that  is  unique  than  appears 
until  we  have  compared  it  with  other  religions.  It  is  the  actual 
comparison  whkh  brings  out  the  enormous  differences.  This  is 
illustrated  in  that  interestiflg  book,  "  Five  Years  in  a  Persian 
Town." 

It  will  perhaps  be  felt  by  some  [says  Mr.  Malcolm  in  the 
preface]  that  more  ought  to  be  made  of  the  points  in  common 
S^SJSfliSr  ^  Ch^tianity  The  fact  IT  that  when  the 
people  come  to  the  missionary  they  do  not  want  to  find  agree- 
ment  but  disagreement,  and  consequently  the  missionary  gets 
to  thmk  not  so  much  of  what  they  know  as  of  what  they  do 
not  know.  So  a  missionary  writer  is,  perhaps,  inclined  to  pass 
over  common  pomts,  whatever  religion  he  is  writing  about.  In 
the  case  of  Islam  there  are  really  not  many  to  note,  and  in 
support  of  this  statement  I  may  relate  a  story  told  by  m  officer 
of  Indian  ^One  day  a  Mohammedan,  in  the  course  of 

a  conversation,  sdd  to  Wm:  "Of  course.  Sahib,  your  religion 
i?nnS»'^ ''^'y  Your  Christ 'is  one  ofTr 

prophets.'  My  friend  replied :"  What  do  you  mean  ?  Of  course 
nrS»'^u"*  °lj°o'"  P'"ophets.  but  to  US  he  is  more  than  a 

nwi.«.     Ai^  *  practical  point  where  Moham- 

meaans  and  Christians  are  not  entirely  at  issue."  The  man 
I<x>ked  up  and  sa  d  :  "  Sahib,  you  have  read  the  Koran,  aSd^ 
T  ^aH^^I  r"*"  J  ""^^^  that  remark  to  diristiS: 

'vSi\L?i,^'^Z^''^'J^y''  ^"^  ^^'y  '""^t  always  say 

tbU  £!i^„n»         t^'^'  ^''^t'  I  ""ow  that 

u^teye  not  read  the  Koran  and  they  have  not  read  their 

Even  when  there  appear  to  be  resemblances  between  Chris- 
tianity and  other  religions,  they  are  underlain  by  deeper  diffw^ 
ences.  In  the  matter  of  the  idea  of  incarnation,  for  example, 
tut  rescmUuKe  u  merely  verbal.  The  incarnations  of  Hiadtiiai 


306        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

were  not  incarnations  of  a  personal  and  self<onscious  bebff 
They  were  "means  by  which  a  being  impersonal  and  incase 
ny  Itself  of  attaming  to  conscious  existence  is  enabled  through 
contact  with  matter  to  attain  to  personality."-(BiCKB»r«TH 
Indian  Mohammedans."  p.  5  ff.)  Now,  the  truth  is  not  served 
by  the  dem^i  or  suppression  of  the  truth,  and  many  have  risen 
from  the  actual  comparison  of  the  world's  religions  with  the 
judgment  with  which  the  just-minded  Edward  Uwrcnce  re- 
turned  from  a  careful  study  of  the  peoples  and  beliefs  of  Asia: 

anoy^!i5  ^r^t  disposition  to  rccognisc  whatever  of  truth  and 
good  may  be  found  m  the  great  Oriental  religions,  I  have  been 
S^n  ifJ?  ""'^  *°  the  conviction  that  it  will  rather  hai5! 
St^l.L*'"'"  •'T*  to  minimise  the  differences  between  cE 
tianity  and  any  other  religion.  If  we  make  the  differences  slieht 
and  say  to  men,  -  Yov  have  but  to  come  a  little  fSS  eS  a 
httle  more,  and  you  will  be  Christians."  one  of  two  wiU 
surely  follow.    Either-and  this  will  be  at  present  mSft  fr^ 

^••"r*^  one'apJJaledt  wS 
ISf^  c«  difference  is  slight,  since  the  change  to  me 

wiU  be  so  great  in  leaving  my  ancestral  faith  and  MSSunterS 
certain  persecution,  I  wi  1  take  the  chances  and  steTXr?! 

oL«m{n»^;fc.*  i/^tf  V  ^""^  ?"  '"^  heathenism  with  him. 
prwummg  that  it  will  be  quite  consistent  with  Christianity  The 
Japanese  are  sensitive  to-day  about  being  called  heathSs  wWA 

heathr/o  ca^f  tt''^-  make  thJm  aV  li^ 

neatnen  to  call  them  Curistians  until  thev  becomi.  en  ♦i,V«.,»u 

Christianity  IS  strong,  and  is  to  remain  so,  through  the  imoSi: 
ness  of  Its  claims,  and  through  the  absolute  assfnt  aJd  «dSSi 
loyalty  which  it  demands.   Be  the  effect  of  nth-r  «k  •  ^ 
it  may.  whether  Judaism  o?  MohSi^LSSS'  of  Sutm 

t"re'a^'s^X'C  of^h^^^^^         °^  ^^^'^  ^  tTnce^'cSanS 
ireats  every  one  of  them  as  a  usurper  on  the  throne  and  .  mi. 

"  MnH."^  the  human  heart  from  itsTue  all^SutiSS: 
Modern  Missions  in  the  East,"  p.  157.)  "^"■'^  l*-AWtiirct, 

4.  Christianity  should  make  no  compromises,  but  anticipate 

^"«tian  man.    "If  there  is  any 


CHRISTIANmr  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  307 

W.  Foster  on  his  return  in  1884  from  a  trip  around  the  world, 
"  they  mean  that  the  worid  must  be  conquered  for  Christ.  The 
spirit  of  Christianity,  while  it  inculcates  charity  towards  our 
erring  brothers,  tolerates  no  other  religion.  Its  Founder  de- 
clared that '  no  man  C(nneth  unto  the  Father  but  by  me.'  Peter 
in  laying  the  very  first  stone  of  the  Christian  edifice,  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  boldly  announced  to  the  rulers  of  the  people 
that  '  there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men 
whereby  we  must  be  saved.'  And  the  first  and  greatest  mis- 
sionary, the  author  of  the  most  beautiful  panegyric  of  charity 
ever  written,  exclaims,  'What  concord  hath  Christ  with  Be- 
lial? .  .  .  what  agreement  hath  the  temple  of  God  with  idols  ? ' 
Neither  in  Japan  nor  in  any  other  land  can  Christianity  be 
compromised  with  Buddhism  or  any  other  Christless  religion." 
And  this  is  the  view  also  of  the  modem  liberal  theologian,  who 
is  tnii  to  Christ  and  the  Christian  God: 

Our  4.econd  question  is,  What  does  Christianity  as  a  mis- 
sionary religion  propose,  with  regard  to  the  religions  that  exist 
m  the  worid?  The  answer  to  this  question  is,  that  Christianity 
proposes  to  win  men  away  from  the  other  relkions  by  bringiiv 
them  something  bettor,  and  to  take  the  place  of  flie  other  reHgloiM 
m  the  world. 

The  attitude  of  the  religion  that  bears  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  not  one  of  compromise,  but  one  of  conflict  an  i  of  cmi- 
quest.    It  proposes  to  displace  the  other  religions.   The  claim 
of  Jeremiah  is  the  claim  of  Christianity,—"  The  gods  tfiat  have 
not  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  they  shall  perish  from  the 
eartfi  and  from  under  the  heavens."  The  survival  of  the  Creator, 
joyfully  foreseen,  is  the  ground  of  its  confidence  and  its  en- 
deavour. Christianity  thus  undertakes  a  long  and  laborious  cam- 
paign, in  which  it  must  experience  various  fortunes  and  learn 
patience  from  trials  and  delays;  but  the  true  state  of  the  case 
must  not  be  forgotten,  namely,  that  Christianity  sets  out  for 
victory.  The  intention  to  conquer  is  characteristic  of  the  Gospel 
This  was  the  aim  of  its  youth  when  it  went  forth  among  the 
religions  that  then  surrounded  it,  and  with  this  ahn  it  raustenter 
any  field  m  which  old  religions  are  encumbering  the  religious 
nature  of  num.  It  cannot  conquer  except  in  love,  but  in  love 
It  intends  to  conquer.  It  means  to  fill  the  wotM.— >(Qj^xk.  *•  A 
Studyof  Christian  Missions,"  p.  107  ff.)  ^w-*""*  a 


306 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


And  Ais  is  the  view  of  the  scholars  who  know  both  Chrirt 
and  the  religions  which  do  not  know  Him.  Edward  Lawrence 
quoted  one  of  the  greatest  of  these,  the  one  who  knew  Bud- 
dhism and  Hinduism  as  well  as  toy,  in  coafirnatiQii  of  his  own 
deepened  oonvictkHi: 

The  work  of  Christianity  [wrote  Lawrence]  is  conquest,  not 
compromise,  and  the  missionary  of  the  cross  may  exercise  a 
wise  intolerance  towards  all  else  which  claims  man's  tumuge. 

I  cannot  do  better  than  to  quote  frwh  the  one  among  all 
others  perhaps  best  qualified  to  speak  on  this  subject,  one  who, 
besides  giving  nearly  a  half-century  to  Eastern  languages  and 
religions,  has  of  late  repeatedly  visited  India,  to  see  and  study 
it  with  his  own  eyes.  His  words  are  the  more  important  becMise, 
when  compared  with  utterances  of  tiie  same  author  before  he 
had  visited  India,  while  he  knew  only  the  books,  they  show  a 
marked  advance  in  positiveness  of  tone.   They  are,  in  fact,  ac- 
companied by  a  recantation  of  former  different  opinions.  They 
are  the  words  of  Sir  Monier  Williams,  Byden  Professor  of  San- 
skrit at  Oxford.  He  had  just  held  up  the  two  statements  that 
"  A  Sinless  Man  was  made  Sin  "  and  that  "  He,  a  dead  and 
buried  Man,  was  made  Life,"  as  unmatched  in  any  other  book 
of  any  other  religion.    "  These  non-Christian  Bibles,"  he  says, 
"are  all  developments  in  the  wrong  directicm.   Tliey  all  begin 
wiA  scMne  flashes  of  light,  and  end  in  utter  darkness.  Kle  them, 
if  you  will,  on  the  left  hand  of  your  study  table,  but  place  your 
own  Holy  Bible  on  the  right  side— all  by  itself— and  with  a 
wide  gap  between.  ...  It  requires  some  courage  to  app^r 
intolerant  in  these  days  of  flabby  compnmiise  and  nulk-and-water 
CO  ission.  But  I  contend  that  tfie  two  unparalleled  decorations 
quoted  by  me  from  our  Holy  Bible  make  a  gulf  between  it 
and  the  so-called  sacred  books  of  the  East  which  severs  the  one 
from  the  other  utterly,  hopelessly,  and  forever;  not  a  mere  rift 
which  may  be  easily  closed  up;  not  a  mere  rift  across  which  the 
Christian  and  non-Christian  may  shake  hands  and  interchange 
similar  ideas  in  regard  to  essential  truths,  but  a  veritable  gulf 
which  cannot  be  bridged  over  by  any  science  of  religious  thought; 
yes,  a  bridgeless  chasm  which  no  theory  of  evolution  can  ever 
span.   Go  forth,  then,  ye  missicmaries,  in  your  Master's  nanne; 

K forth  into  all  the  worid,  and  after  studying  all  its  false  re- 
gions and  philosophies,  go  forth  and  fearlessly  proclaim  to 
suffering  humanity  the  plain,  the  unchangeable,  the  eternal  facU 
Of  th«  Gospel— nay,  I  nright  almott  say  ti»  stabborn,  ^t^  mr 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  309 

34^lft'"Jith^!n'T°'*"*^  ^^P«'-  to  be  down- 

nght  w  th  all  the  uncompromising  courage  of  your  own  Bible 

wh.le  .with  .t  your  watchwords  are\ve,  peacVmrSliS.' 

i?^'  ^  .^''^"^Wc.  be  pristian.  butVt  tWe  be  no  miSkT; 

£  wa^eS^^c^'t?'^  Christianity  cannot,  must  not 

De  watered  down  to  suit  the  palate  of  e  ther  Hindu  Parse* 
Confucianist,  Buddhist,  or  Mohammedan,  and  fft  wlSSS 

i?  l^'J'"""^  ?f  ^^'Sf  to  the  true  can  nev^?^ 

to  do  so  by  the  nckety  planks  of  compromise,  or  by  help^f 
fdtenng  hands  held  out  by  half-hearted  Chris  ians.  He  must 
leap  the  gulf  m  faith,  and  the  living  Christ  will  soread  hL 

*wcK.     ^i-AWRENcE,   Modem  Missions  m  the  East,"  p.  158.) 

We  are  told  to^iay  that  we  must  cease  to  use  the  military 
metaphors  with  reference  to  the  mission  of  Christianity  It 
is  a  htUe  hard  for  us  to  do  this  who  cannot  forget  the  language 
of  the  New  Testament.  But  the  metaphors  are  of  no  con^ 
quence  The  essential  thing  is  the  truth  which  the  metaphors 
veil,  and  that  truth  we  believe  to  be  the  triumphant,  fulfillinr 
conquest  of  Christianity  and  the  sovereignty  of  arist's  name 
over  every  name. 

S-  Christianity  should  welcome  all  transformations  of  the 
thought  of  the  non-Christian  peoples  which  bring  that  thought 
nearer  to  Christianity.  These  transformations  constitute  one 
of  the  greatest  intellectual  and  moral  movements  of  our  time. 
The  new  Hinduism,  the  Vedanta.  the  Arya  Samaj.  the  various 

SIT'u^"!^'  ^  *'tered  ethical  standard 

Of  the  higher  Hinduism,  the  deepest  stirrings  among  the  Hindu 
peoples,  are  the  direct  product  of  the  Christian  spirit  worictng 
on  India  most  purely  in  the  missionary  enterprise,  and  which 
IS  transforming  the  ideal  of  the  people.  "  I  have  just  returned 
from  an  interesting  Indian  concert,  which  the  hostellers  have 
or^ised  in  our  Lecture  Hall."  wrote  a  missionary  from  Ae 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  Hostel,  in  Allahabad.  "  It  is  one  of 
the  many  signs  of  change  in  India.  The  concert  was  in  aid  of 
the  Arya  Samaj  Orphanage  at  Agra,  and  several  of  the  orphans 
performed.  It  reminded  me  of  Stepney  Causeway  and  Dr 
Bamardo's  Ho:  les,  which  will  always  have  a  veiy  warm 


3IO        CHRISTIANiry  AND  THE  NATIONS 


in  my  heart  since  my  East  End  days,  when  I  often  dropped 

in  to  see  the  -nagnificent  work  going  on  there.  But  just  imagine 
an  orphanage  in  India!  Who  says  Christianity  is  not  touching 
India?  Two  nights  ago  a  crowd  of  Irostellers  came  to  me  in 
the  greatest  excitement.  They  wanted  to  leave  to  go  down  to 
the  annual  mela,  or  festival,  which  is  held  at  the  confluence  of 
the  Jumna  and  Ganges,  near  the  Allahabad  fort,  and  what  was 
their  purpose?  They  had  heard  that  there  were  many  wretched 
pilgrims  who  were  living  in  utter  squalor  and  poverty  there, 
and  they  wished  to  go  and  do  a  little  rescue  work,  and  house' 
and  feed  them  properly.  Does  this  seem  little  to  you?  Believe 
me,  it  is  a  huge  change.  A  few  years  ago,  no  one  would  have 
moved  a  finger— why  should  they  ?  When  a  man  is  bom  poor 
and  blind,  or  when  misfortune  overtakes  him,  he  is  only  suffer- 
ing for  the  misdeeds  of  a  former  life,  and  why  should  any  one 
else  interfere  to  prevent  God  giving  a  man  his  just  reward? 
Slowly,  however,  the  Christian  ideal  is  permeating  India— you 
see  it  everywhere.  The  point  of  view  is  changed,  the  standard 
of  conduct  is  raised ;  consciously  or  unconsciously,  India  is  mak- 
ing Christ  the  ideal  of  conduct,  and  perhaps  this  is  one  of 
the  contributing  causes  to  the  present  dislike  of  the  foreigner. 
S(»nehow  the  materialistic,  self-seeking,  arrogant  Westerner  does 
not  suggest  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus."— (C.  Af.  5".  Review, 
March,  1909;  Art.  by  Norman  H.  Tubbs,  "  The  India  Student- 
India  in  Transition.") 

Under  the  same  transforming  influence  Shintmsm  has  given 
up  its  claims  to  be  considered  a  religion  in  Japan.  Confucianisnx 
is  retreating  into  a  ceremonial  in  China,  Mohammedanism  is 
dissolving  the  bonds  of  the  Koran,  and  Buddhism  is  taking  c- 
from  Christianity  everything  but  its  names  and  its  power.  •  A 
friend  of  mine,"  writes  a  resident  in  Japan,  "  was  talking  with 
a  certain  Buddhist  tady  about  Christianity,  when  the  woman 
said  that  she  saw  no  difference  between  the  teachings  of  the 
two  religions.  'How  is  that?'  sad  my  friend.  What  makes 
you  say  there  is  no  difference? '  *  Well,'  said  the  woman,  '  you 
Christians  make  much  of  what  you  call  "  Hie  Sermon  on  tiw 
Mount,"  iHit  we  have  somctbti«  just  Uke  it  In  tiic  laM  copy 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  311 

of  my  Buddhist  paper  I  read  it.'  When  the  paper  was  brought 
It  was  found  that  it  contrtned  something  just  Uke  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  for  it  was  the  Sermon  on  the  Mourt  translated 
and  represented  as  Buddhist  Scripture."  We  cannot  welcome 
deception,  conscious  or  unconscious,  nor  false  representation 
and  it  is  certainly  true  that  this  spread  of  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity among  the  non-Christian  peoples,  transforming  thdr 
thought  but  not  striking  into  the  very  central  being  and  quicken- 
ing the  soul  in  God  by  a  regeneretioii  in  Christ,  makes  our 
problem  in  some  of  its  aspects  much  harder.  Nevertheless,  we 
will  rejoice  in  all  spread  of  truth  among  men,  believing  that 
It  builds  to  the  kmgdom  of  Christ,  and  that  half-truth,  in  spite  of 
all,  is  better  than  whole  error. 

6.  But  Christianity  must  continue,  and  all  the  more  as  this 
transformation  advances,  to  seek  to  win  individual  men  away 
from  their  religions  to  Christianity.  If  by  proselytising  is  meant 
winning  men  from  all  that  is  false  and  evil  in  the  world's  re- 
ligions  and  relating  them  to  the  one  universal  religion,  which 
IS  all  truth  and  good,  in  other  words,  the  effort  to  make  Hindus 
and  Mohammedans  Christians,  then  that  is  just  what  we  are  tiy- 
ing  to  do.   We  are  proselytising.   And  we  do  not  see  what  else 
m  aU  the  worid  is  worth  doing.   The  business  of  every  man  is 
to  find  truth,  to  live  it,  and  to  get  it  found  and  lived  by  all 
the  worid.  This  is  what  we  are  Christians  for.  And  this  change 
in  individuals  must  be  a  radical  and  living  change.   It  is  utteriy 
inadequate  to  describe  the  invitation  of  foreign  missions  to  the 
non-Christuui  peoples  as  an  invitation  to  «  phitesopWcal  adjust- 
ment.     It  is  an  appeal  for  regeneration.   We  do  expect  to  see 
the  gradual  conversion  of  heathenism  by  the  adoption  of  Chris- 
nan  Ideals  instead  of  heathen  ones,"  and  this  "to  be  followed 
by  the  gradual  absorption  of  paganism  into  the  Church."— 
(LU)YD,  "  ^yheat  Among  the  Tares,"  p.  36.)   And  doubtless  the 
day  would  be  hastened  if  there  were  perfect  preachers  of  the 
perfect  Gospel.  Dr.  Uoyd  thinks  so.  "  Japan  does  not  believe 
Christianity,"  he  says,  "because  of  faulty  presentation.  The 

^"Z^^^      "^^^  °*  o"*"  it  must  lie  with 

«»w«w.  ...  If  the  Japanese  rejects  Christianity,  it  is  in 


3ia        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


most  cases  because  he  has  never  had  it  properly  presented  to 
him."  But  is  ttm  all?  Does  it  go  to  the  very  centre?  Are 
dK  Japanese  so  different  to-day  fn»n  die  Jews  fai  our  LoWTs 

day,  and  the  Roman  world  in  St.  Paul's?  Or  can  it  be  that 
our  Lord  did  not  properly  present  the  Gospel,  and  that  St 
Paul's  presentation  was  faulty?  No,  something  more  is  needed 
than  philosophical  adjustment  on  the  part  of  the  hearers  and  a 
less  faulty  presentation  on  the  part  of  the  preachers,  Men  must 
be  bom  again.  They  must  repent.  They  must  find  life  in 
Oirist  The  old  phrases  enshrine  the  eternal  truth.  The  ous- 
sionary  enterprise  is  busy  producing  new  moral  climates,  trans- 
forming and  enriching  and  fulfilling  the  ideals  of  the  nations, 
but  it  is  doing  these  primarily  and  permanently  by  making  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  Christ,  by  finding  men  and  women  who  will 
answer  His  call  and  forsake  all  that  they  have  and  follow  Him. 

7.  Christianity  should  perceive  and  unswervingly  hold  to  the 
truth  of  its  own  absolute  uniqueness.  "  He  Hat  hadi  not  the 
Son  of  God  hath  not  Life."  That  is  the  fundamental  law.  We 
refuse  to  be  led  aside  by  any  distinction  between  the  historic 
Christ  and  die  essential  Christ  We  believe  in  a  toving  God. 
Who  is  the  Father  of  all  His  children  in  spite  of  their  denials, 
and  that  His  loving  will  is  that  none  should  perish  but  that 
all  should  cotat  unto  life,  and  in  a  grace  that  has  sought  and 
is  seeking  every  human  heart,  and  in  a  Lamb  dain  from  die 
beginning  as  a  propitiation,  not  for  our  sins  only,  but  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world.  All  this  we  believe,  and  our  own  duty 
in  view  of  it  is  dear.  But  into  distincticms  between  two  Christs 
we  cannot  go.  It  leads  us  into  regions  where  there  is  no  foot- 
hold. The  Christ  whc»n  we  know,  and  Who  has  been  life  to 
us,  is  die  Christ  of  history.  "  He  that  hath  die  Son  hath  Ufe, 
and  He  that  hath  not  the  Son  of  God  hadi  mrt  life"  This  one 
law,  which  is  law  because  it  is  fact,  is  what  "distinguishes 
Christianity  from  all  other  religions.  It  places  the  rel^on  of 
Christ"  said  Professor  Drummond  in  "Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  Worid,"  (p.  83  f )  "  upon  a  footing  altogether  unique. 
There  is  no  analogy  between  the  Christian  religion  and,  say  Bud- 
dhism, or  the  Mohammedan  religion.   There  is  no  true  sense 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  313 

in  whkh  a  man  can  say,  He  that  hath  Buddha  hath  life.  Buddha 
has  nothing  to  do  with  life.  He  may  have  something  to  do  with 
morality.  He  may  stimnlate,  impress,  teach,  guide,  bat  there 
is  no  distinct  new  thing  added  to  the  souls  of  those  who  profess 
Buddhism.  These  religions  may  be  developments  of  the  natural 
and  moral  man.  But  Christianity  professes  to  be  more.  It  is 
the  mental  or  moral  man  plus  something  else  or  some  One  dse." 
Christianity  is  showing  no  kindness  to  the  world  if  it  forgets 
its  own  character,  the  mission  of  life  with  which  it  is  charged. 
A  tolerattcm  which  betrayed  die  very  life  of  humanity  would 
be  intolerable  treason.  Christianity  must  realise  and  hold  im- 
movably its  unique  character.  As  Mr.  Griffith  Jones  says :  "  The 
offer  of  Christ  to  sinful  men  wherever  they  can  be  found  is  not 
the  offer  of  an  ahemative  rdigion  to  tiiem  in  the  sense  in  wht^ 
Hinduism  and  Taoism  and  Confucianism  are  religions.  It  is 
the  offer  to  men  of  the  secret  of  life,  of  something  that  will 
enable  them  to  realise  their  true  selves,  and  become  men  in  the 
true  and  full  sense  of  the  word.  We  do  our  Ma^r  istde  hoaoui' 
when  we  place  Him  among  a  group  of  teachers  competing  for 
acceptance  of  men.  He  is  not  one  of  the  many  founders 
tigims.  He  is  the  Source  and  Fountain  of  all,  in  so  ^ 
ixi  they  have  caught  a  prophetic  glimpse  of  His  truth,  and  an- 
ticipated something  of  His  spirit,  and  given  a  scattered  hint  here 
and  there  of  His  secret.  He  is  the  truth,  the  type,  the  saving 
grace  of  iriiidi  tiiey  fain^  and  m^ptdy  dreamed;  die  denre 
of  all  nations,  the  crown  and  essence  of  humanity ;  the  Saviour 
of  the  world.  Who  by  the  loftiness  of  His  teaching,  the  beauty 
of  His  diaracter,  the  suffidoicy  of  His  atoning  sacrifice,  is  able 
to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  who  will  come  to  Him  and  trust 
in  Him."  The  men  who  in  the  non-Christian  religions  sought 
in  vain  for  life,  and  then  fotmd  it  in  Christ,  warn  us  to  be 
true  to  tile  tnut  which  we  hold  tor  htmanity.  "  I  became  Chrfo- 
tian  and  openly  professed  my  faith  in  Christ  54  years  ago  for 
this  precious  truth,"  of  life  by  the  unique  atonement  of  Christ, 
writes  one  of  the  most  venerable  and  respected  Christian  men 
of  India,  the  Rev.  Dr.  K.  C.  Chatterjee  of  Hoshyarpur,  "and  it 
has  been  tiie  solace  of  my  Ufc  ever  tioGe.  It  it  the  difforealiat- 


314        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


ing  line  between  Christianity  and  all  non-Christian  systems,  and 
we  must  not  keep  it  in  the  background,  and,  much  less,  give  it 
up.    All  the  educated  and  tiiinking  men  of  dus  country  are 

willing  to  give,  and  often  do  actually  give  the  highest  place  to 
Christ  as  a  religious  teacher.  Only  last  week  the  Principal  of 
tiie  Arya  College  at  Lahore,  in  a  public  lecture  delivered  in  this 
place,  exhorted  his  hearers,  numbering  above  4,000,  '  to  USkm 
Jesus  Christ,  the  greatest  religious  teacher  the  world  has  pro- 
duced in  his  self-denial  and  work  of  love  for  the  poor.'  The 
removing  of  tiw  line  reduces  Christ  to  one  out  of  many— die 
greatest  one,  it  may  be,  but  with  it  He  is  the  only  one  Savkmr 
of  the  world.  Between  Him  and  other  teachers  the  difference 
is  not  of  degree,  but  of  kind.  He  is  the  only  Saviour,  and  they 
are  teachers." 

8.  While  we  may  hope  for  something  in  the  way  of  a  richer 
imderstanding  and  a  fuller  interpretation  of  Christianity  from 
the  new  experience  of  Christians  of  other  races,  we  may  ex- 
aggerate the  prospect.  And  what  we  may  hope  for  is  ratiier 
from  the  racial  qualities  of  these  peoples  than  from  their  re- 
Ugkms.  It  is  to  be  stated  clearly  that  we  look  for  nothing  from 
the  non-Christian  religions  to  be  added  to  the  Christianity  of 
the  New  Testament.  Every  truth  in  these  religions  is  already 
in  Christianity,  and  it  is  there  proportioned  and  balanced  as  it 
is  not  in  any  of  the  other  religions.  We  have  much  to  learn  of 
our  own  religion.  It  reaches  infinitely  beyond  our  present  com- 
prehension of  it.  The  thought  and  life  of  other  peoples  has  much 
to  teach  us  of  the  riches  of  our  own  faith;  but  not  one  single 
aspect  of  truth  can  be  named  which  these  other  religions  are 
able  to  contribute  to  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  is  not  the  Oriental  consciousness  to 
enlarge  and  enrich  our  comparatively  pinched  and  practical  con- 
ceptions? But  is  diere  such  a  thing  as  an  Oriental  ccmsciountess? 
A  Western  woman  is  the  chief  preacher  of  such  a  consciousness 
in  India,  and  the  whole  conception  of  such  a  consciousness  as  a 
great  force  to  be  dealt  with  in  philosophy  and  religion  has  been 
produced  and  nourished  in  the  West.  There  is  doubtless  a  rough 
utility  in  thus  setting  the  East  o£F  against  the  West,  but  both  East 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHiUSTIAN  REUOION8  $t$ 

and  West  are  divided  within  themselves  by  differences  of  race 

and  tradition  as  great  as  separate  them  from  one  another.  Thi 
Chinese  consciousness  is  nearer  to  Western  materialism  and  the 
Hindu  consdonsness  to  Western  ideahMn  than  tiw  Chinese  and 
Hindu  consciousness  are  to  each  other.  The  phrase,  the  Oriental 
consciousness,  serves  a  more  or  less  useful  purpose,  but  it  does 
not  define  a  source  of  new  religious  knowledge  or  promise  a  cor- 
rection of  Christianity. 

Nevertheless  we  have  much  to  learn  from  others.  "  The  West 
has  yet  much  to  learn  in  the  school  of  Vedanta,  so  ancient  and 
so  meditative,"  says  one  Christian  writer.  (The  Rev.  N.  Mac- 
NicoL,  Hibbert  Journal,  October,  1908.)  And  Mr.  Slater  says: 
"  The  West  has  to  learn  from  the  East,  and  the  East  from  the 
West  The  questions  raised  by  the  Vedanta  will  have  to  pass 
into  Christianity  if  the  best  minds  of  Im&i  are  to  end>race  it; 
and  the  Church  of  the  '  fai  ler  East'  will  doubtless  contribute 
sonething  to  the  thought  of  Christendom  of  the  Svience  of  the 
soul,  and  of  dw  omnipenetrativeness  and  hnmanence  of  Deity."~ 
(Slater,  "The  Higher  Hinduism,'  p.  291.)  These  are  sober 
and  true  words.  They  speak  of  the  inadequacy  of  our  thought, 
not  of  the  inadequacy  of  Christianity.  But  Max  Miiller  goes  far 
heyoad  these  more  carefol  statements:  " If  I  were  asked  under 
what  sky  the  human  mind  has  most  fully  developed  some  of  its 
choicest  gifts,  has  most  deeply  pondered  on  the  greatest  problems 
of  life,  and  has  found  solutions  of  them  which  well  deserve  the 
attention  of  those  who  have  studied  Phto  and  Kant,  I  should 
point  to  India.  If  I  were  to  ask  myself  from  what  literature 
one,  here  in  Europe,  may  draw  that  corrective,  in  order  to  make 
our  inner  Kfe  more  perfect,  more  comprehensive,  more  universal, 
and,  in  fact,  more  truly  a  human  life,  not  for  this  life  only,  but 
for  a  transfigured  and  eternal  life,  again  I  should  point  to  India." 
But  there  are  others,  both  those  who  have  studied  Indian  rdigion 
and  philosophy  from  afar,  unprejudiced  by  the  realities  of  the 
popular  religion,  and  those  who  have  loved  India  so  well  that 
they  have  lived  and  died  for  her,  who  have  not  found  what  her 
spectt-  Hons  could  add  to  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  I  do  not 
say  to  tiw  Western  fonmdation  of  tiic(^)gy  but  to  tiie  essea- 


3i6        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


tial  troth  of  the  Gotptib,  And  even  of  the  former,  eonie 
doubt 

Take  the  Hindu  race  [says  Dr.  George  A.  Gordon].  They 
ar*  spoken  of  by  those  who  best  know  them  as  intellectually  one 
of  the  most  gifted  people  on  the  gk>be.  I  cannot  help  the  feeHi^r 
that  this  is  a  very  great  exaggeration.  The  Hindus  have  no 
science,  and  do  not  even  know  what  the  word  means.  They 
have  achieved  no  fame  in  working  out  a  theory  of  government, 
and  less  in  the  institution  of  oat.  Their  gift  lies  in  &e  direction 
of  metaphysics,  and  this  subject  they  have  conceived,  not  u 
Hato  or  Aristotle  did,  nor  as  Kant  and  his  great  successors  have 
done.  Their  strength  has  never  been  in  orderly  and  \alid  think- 
ing, even  when  turned  upon  the  great  centres  of  being.  But 
they  have  a  marvellous  faculty  and  fertility  of  spiritual  imaginft- 
tion.  and  their  power  cf  reflecting  profound  metaphysical  trudi 
through  the  luminous  haze  of  intellectual  vision  is  indeed  amaz- 
ing. Nevertheless,  one  feels  that  even  here  there  is  a  certain 
cheapness  about  the  product.  It  is  as  if  there  were  an  illimitable 
fog  bank  off  our  shores,  rolling  in  under  a  blazing  summer 
sun.  It  comes  in  transfigured  masses ;  it  is  a  wcmder  of  b«iuty, 
but,  after  all,  it  is  thin  and  cheap  and  unwholesome.  One  can 
hardly  resist  a  feeling  like  this  in  witnessing  the  exercises  of 
the  Hindu  mmd.  It  is  talk  by  the  mile  and  the  league,  and, 
although  pleasant  to  hear,  it  lacks  the  note  of  reality.  It  some^ 
how  fails  of  representttive  worth  in  respect  to  tiie  character  of 
the  q>eaker,  in  respect  to  the  experience  of  the  average  sincere 
man,  and,  above  all,  in  respect  to  the  order  and  granacur  of  the 
unhrcrse.— (GoRomr,  "  The  Gospel  lor  Humantty,"  p.  13.) 

Something  is  to  come  into  the  temple  of  God  from  India,  but 
oafy  when  her  omsciousness  and  her  qtecubticms  are  humbly 
laid  at  the  foot  of  Christ's  cross,  and  when  die  has  begtm  to 
learn  by  life  in  Him 

Thus  far  our  hopes  of  any  original  contribution  in  phikisophy 
or  theology  or  religion  from  the  quickened  consciousness  of 
Asia  or  from  the  Christian  Churches  in  Asia  have  been  unful- 
filled. All  the  work  of  modem  scholars  in  Japan  and  India 
has  been  eclectic,  a  renKtdelling  of  old  materials.  And  the 
Christkns  of  these  lands  have  simply  been  reHving  the  ever  old 
and  ever  new  fnoblems  of  human  Ufe  in  all  ages  and  in  all  luA. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  jiy 

Those  who  have  set  out  to  give  us  new  theokgiM  or  new 
Christs  have  only  rephrased  the  old  truths  or  rearranged  the 
old  here^  Mr.  Mozumdar  gave  us  an  Oriental  Christ,  but 
he  was  nerdjr  a  Unitarian  Christ,  less  $bnog,  less  rich,  less 
true,  less  commanding,  less  a  Christ  than  the  Saviour  whom 
the  Church  had  known  for  nineteen  centuries.  And  Mozum- 
dar's  public  statement,  in  which  he  retired  from  the  leadership 
of  the  Bramo  Samaj  and  withdrew  into  solitude  for  his  last 
days,  is  the  acknowledgment  of  the  failure  of  one  of  the  most 
promising  efforts  of  the  last  generation  to  correct  Christianity 
by  the  conscknisness  of  India: 

Age  and  sickness  get  the  better  of  me  in  these  surroundings, 
I  cannot  work  as  I  would— contemplatioa  is  distracted,  concen- 
tration disturbed,  though  I  struggle  ever  so  much.  These  soli- 
tudes are  hospitable;  these  breadths,  heights,  and  depths  are 
always  suggestive  I  acquire  more  souk  wi&  less  rtrwrie. 
hence  I  retire.  -^b-^ 

They  talk  and  make  me  taUc  so  amefa  that,  having  tespeet 

for  them  all,  I  prefer  to  go  away. 

I  can  best  control  my  speech,  my  daily  ways,  my  dealings  with 
the  world,  when  I  am  kndy,  and  fah  hack  npea  mysellTlicfe- 

fore,  I  retire. 

My  thirst  for  the  higher  life  is  growing  so  unqoench- 
able  that  I  need  the  time  and  the    race  to  re-examine  and 
r  P*"^  existence.    The  spirit 

of  God  promises  me  that  grace  if  I  am  alone.   So  let  me 

alone. 

There  is  so  much  to  learn,  lo  trust,  to  realise,  to  do,  that 
i  must  ni^t  and  day  draw  nearer  to  my  God.  The  society  of 
men  is  full  of  vamty.  So  I  retire.  I  wiU  go  back  when  I  can 
serve  men  better. 

The  rich  are  so  vain  or  selfish,  the  poor  are  so  insolent  or 
mean,  that»  havntg  respect  for  both,  I  prefer  to  go  away  from 
them. 

The  larned  thmk  so  highly  of  themselves,  the  ignorant  are 
so  full  of  hatred  and  unchantableness,  that,  havnw  good  wfll 
for  both,  I  prefer  to  hide  myself  from  all. 

T''^.  religious  are  so  exclusive,  the  sceptical  so  self-snffident. 
that  It  IS  best  to  be  away  from  both. 

Sodi  a  fatal  likii^  I  have  for  the  company  of  every  kind 
of  moi,  ao  cpca  to  twwptatiow  at  avcty  point,  to  pmM 


3i8        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

so  repeatedly  impatient  that  I  must  school  mysdf  to  retirement 

"'A^h?rf  at'^deS^'Xe  not  they  too  retired?   I  wish 
„y  acquaintance  with  the  dead  should  grow  that coj^^^^ 
with  them  should  be  spontaneous,  perpetual,  unceasmg.    I  will 
invoke  them  and  wait  for  them  in  my  hermitage. 

What T life?  Is  it  not  a  fleeting  shadow,  the  graveyard  of 
dead  hopes,  the  battlefield  of  ghastly  competitions,  the  play- 
ground "f  delusions,  separations,  cruel  changes  and  disa^^^^^^ 
ments?  I  have  had  enough  of  these  And  ^^^j!^^^^^ 
love  of  all.  must  prepare  and  sanctify  myself  for  the  greaX  tit 
yond,  where  there  is  solution  for  so  many  problems,  and  con- 
solation for  so  many  troubles.  r^.  k..^  thrtse 

The  world  is  also  bright,  beautiful,  and  full  of  God ,  but  those 
who  are  in  it  do  not  see  that-I  see  it  better  from  my  retire- 

""^hfy  tT:Sought\"^^^^^^^^^  kind  things  to  me  so  unstintedly 
that  I  could  not  help  feeling  flattered,  though  I  knew  they  were 
STdeserved;  they  have  thought  and  said  cruel  and  unworthy 
SSI?  of  me  so%ersistently  that  I  could  "ot  help  being  dis- 
coSSwd.  Now  I  must  go  away  to  make  certain  what  I  real  y 
sight  of  my  God  And  furthermore..!  must  strenuously 
sSie  to  mature  myself  in  whatever  good  thing  there  .s  m  me, 
?nd  purify  myself  with  God's  help  from  every  evil  and  the  posst- 
Wlit/of  cveiy  evil.  Does  not  this  require  much  time  and  dis- 

Who  expects  from  such  pathetic  consciousness  of  failure  any 
improvement  upon  St.  Paul? 

What  can  the  East  add  to  Christ?  we  ask.  What  can  the 
East  show  us  that  we  do  not  know?  Can  it  give  us  anything? 

Yes,  it  has  a  great  deal  to  give  us.  But  it  is  not  Chris- 
tianity that  needs  its  help.  It  is  we.  And  It  U  only  by  Chris- 
ti««^  that  it  can  give  us  its  help.  And  it  is  not  m  our  thoughts 
of  Oiristianity  that  we  specially  need  its  help.  We  do  no^ 
primarily  require  a  larger  intellectual  comprehension  of  tfie  Gm- 
Itl  Indeed,  we  cannot  get  it  by  mere  specuUtion.  by  com- 
Jiri««  of  opinions,  by  new  codifications  of  truth,  or  new  efforU 
to  state  the  life  and  will  of  God  and  the  ^^^^I^^^^^J 
souls  in  words.  We  can  only  get  it  by  "^J'^^"^^ 
life,  by  the  acturi  ocoipatloii  of  huniMiity  l»y  God.   It  »  ui 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS  3»9 


the  experience  of  Christianity  that  help  is  needed.  It  is  in  our 
living  it,  in  our  getting  the  Gospel  embodied  in  our  life.  It  is 
thus  that  the  other  races  ar^  to  help  us.  And  it  is  the  races 
that  are  to  help  us,  not  ':I,e«r  leh^'ons,  save  as  those  religions 
have  come  to  embody  in  any  measure  a;).ive  their  error  the  great 
racial  qualities  which  ar  to  be  the  contribution  of  these  peoples 
to  the  Spirit  of  God  for  '>\h  use  as  Me  materials  of  the  King- 
dom of  God,  the  incarnation  of  the  Gospel  in  the  life  of  man- 
kind. The  non-Christian  peoples  are  far  better  than  the  evils 
of  their  religions.  Even  the  sanctification  of  error  and  wrong 
in  the  non-Christian  religions  has  not  extirpated  from  these 
peoples  the  likeness  of  God,  which  will  not  be  eifaced.  and  that 
original  capacity  for  Him,  for  the  indwelling  of  His  life,  for 
the  execution  of  His  will  of  righteousness,  whidl  is  to  be  tiietr 
contribution  to  the  universal  Church. 

It  is  from  these  races  that  the  new  goods  for  Christianity 
are  to  come.  The  line  of  thought  in  Bishop  Mcmtgcnnery's  com- 
posite volume,  "  Mankind  and  the  Church,"  was  justly  chosen, — 
"  an  attempt  to  estimate  the  contribution  of  great  races  to  the 
fulness  of  the  Church  of  God."  To  the  extent  to  which  tfieir 
religions  have  really  supported  the  strong  national  qualities  of 
these  peoples,  which  they  are  to  bring  to  the  enlargement  of 
our  interpretation  of  the  Gospel  by  the  enlargement  of  our  ex- 
perience of  God  in  Christ,  tiiey  hsve  made  a  contributkm,  tmt 
to  the  extent  that  they  have  weakened  them  they  have  increased 
the  measure  of  the  encumbrance  they  have  been  on  the  life  of  the 
world,  or  will  be  if  they  obstruct  the  triumph  of  Christianity. 
But  it  is  the  character  of  the  various  races  which  Christianity 
wants,  to  redeem  and  use  them,  ra  her  than  the  speculations  of 
their  religions  for  her  reconstruction.  And  we  will  cherish  the 
hope,  though  as  yet  it  is  only  a  hope,  which  Dr.  Gibson  sets  forth 
in  his  "  Mission  Problems  and  Mission  Methods  in  South 
China,"  that  through  the  qualities  which  the  races  are  to 
bring  into  the  Church,  the  Church  will  be  enabled  to  appro- 
priate more  of  that  Gospel  which  is  perfect  and  coo^ett 
and  needii^  only  to  be  understood  and  accq^  in  its  divine 
fulness. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


A  review  of  earlier  Oiurch  history  would  show  how  the  vary- 
ing types  of  different  races  have  contributed  to  the  development 
of  Christian  theology.    The  Greek  mind  contributed  to  it  its 
speculative  liberality,  its  profound  philosophical  insight,  its  sense 
of  the  essential  dignity  of  hunuui  nature.   The  Roman  type  of 
mental  development  contributed,  on  the  other  hand,  the  strong 
sense  of  law  out  of  which  has  arisen  the  whole  region  of  what 
is  called  forensic  theolc^.  It  also  imposed  on  Christian  thought 
definiteness.  and  the  sense  of  limits  which  prevented  it  from 
running  wild  in  a  too  free  speculation.  In  later  times  the  subtlety, 
thoroughness,  and  clearness  of  the  French  intellectual  type,  when 
working  at  its  best,  impressed  themselves  through  Calvin  upon 
our  Western  thedogy.  When  time  has  allowed  for  their  develop- 
ment, may  we  not  expect  the  working  of  similar  forces  "»  the 
Churches  which  are  growing  up  on  our  great  missKm  fields? 
In  India  you  have  a  mind  naturally  religious,  highly  speculative 
and  metaphysical,  and  moving  habitually  under  the  influence  of 
sudden  heats  of  religious  emotion.    In  China,  on  the  contrary, 
yott  have  a  national  temperament  with  little  natural  9y^»*y 
with  the  more  subtle  aspects  of  religious  thought,  but  ttro^ly 
inclined  to  what  is  ethical  and  practical,  having  a  firm  grasp  of 
reality,  and  presenting  a  singular  combination  of  solidity  and 
plasticity.  Where  our  theology  is  still  one-sided  and  incomplete, 
may  we  not  look  for  large  cuntributions  to  it  in  days  to  come 
from  the  independent  thought  and  life  of  Christian  nwn  in  our 
mission  fields ;  and  may  we  not  look  forward  to  the  attainment, 
as  one  of  the  ample  .rewards  of  our  mission  work,  of  the  fuller 
and  more  rounded  thecdogy  for  which  the  Church  has  waited 
so  long?  So  may  come  at  last  the  healing  of  those  divisions^ 
which  she  has  been  torn  and  weakened  throughout  her  chequered 
history.  . 

When  to  Jewish  fervour,  Greek  passion,  Roman  restraint, 
French  acuteness,  German  depth,  English  breadth,  Scottish  in- 
tensity, and  American  alertness,  are  added  Indian  religious 
subtlety,  with  Chinese  ethical  sagacity— all  baptised  into  the  One 
Spirit— then  we  may  reach  at  last  the  fuller  theology,  worthy 
of  the  world-wide  hospitalities  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and 
settimr  forth  more  neatly  the  very  thoi^lits  of  God.— (GinoN, 
Op.ni,,  pp.  a8a-fl86.) 

There  are  those,  it  must  be  said,  who  feel  grave  concern 
the  issues  wiUi  which  the  modem  world  eo»frc»ts  us.   It  It 
tvident,  they  say,  that  the  non-Christiui  races  are  to  cxtrt  n 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS 


more  direct  and  powerful  influence  upon  the  Christian  peoples, 
and  they  dread  the  result.  What  they  have  to  give,  they  fear 
will  be  by  no  means  wholly  good,  and  they  look  not  for  an 
enrichment,  but  for  an  inqioverisliinent  of  our  best  Ufe  from 
their  contribution  to  it: 


At  this  juncture  [says  Professor  Reinsch]  the  East  with  its 
swarming  hordes  living  a  listless  life  from  century  to  century: 
the  West  with  its  energetic,  individualistic  impulses,  but  without 
amr  ^nsistent  philosq>hy  of  civilisation,  meet  face  to  face.  That 
this  threatens  to  accentuate  the  reactionary  forces,  to  strengthen 
autocracy  and  brute  force,  and  to  weaken  everything  that  bases 
Itself  on  reason,  reflection,  and  individual  right,  is  natural  and 
evident  While  some  presaging  spirits  cherish  the  hope  that 
Eastern  thought  will  yield  a  harmonising  principle  to  the  life 
Of  the  West,  others  abandon  themselves  to  the  fear  that  we 
are  destined  to  be  driven  back  into  another  period  of  dark- 
ness in  which  intelligence  will  slumber  and  brute  force  reicn 
supreme. 

The  unfavourable  influences  that  are  to  be  expected  from 
Onoital  civilisation  may  be  summaris'>'l  briefly  as  follows*  a 
pessimistic  view  of  life ;  an  undervaluing  of  individual  rights  and 
the  power  of  individual  initiative;  a  caste  spirit  that  lodes  upon 
mm  as  mere  incomplete  portions  of  a  Uirger  unity  in  which 
their  existence  is  entirely  swallowed  up;  the  degradation  of 
women,  whom  Western  ideals  have  placed  on  an  equal  intellectual 
and  moral  footing  with  men;  a  lack  of  sympathy;  the  pre- 
ponderance of  theocracy ;  and  absolutism.  It  is  paradoxical  that, 
with  all  Its  individualism,  the  West  Is,  nevertheless,  more  sym- 
pathetic than  the  East.   This  sympathy  is  largely  a  result  of  the 
Christian  religion;  for  before  the  growth  of  Christianity,  the 
Koman  world  was  dominated  by  the  Stoic  spirit,  to  which  pity 
for  the  suffenngs  of  fellow-beings  was  entirely  forv;gn.  Through- 
out the  Onent  man  is  singularly  apathetic  and  untouched  by 
the  woes  of  his  fellows.   It  may  be  said,  indeed,  by  apologists 
Of  tastem  thought,  that  sympathy  merely  increases  human  suf- 
fering a  thousandfold  by  making  every  individual  carry  tiw 
burdens  of  thouMnds  of  feUow-sufferers,  and  that  it  leads  to 
a  perpetuation  of  deformities  and  disease  by  protecting  from 
extirpation  the  victims  of  these  evils.    Even  so,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  Uiat,  when  we  come  to  consider  the  feelings  and  ideals 
which  make  our  life  endurable,  the  bond  of  sympathy  wttfa  fdlow- 
bcwgs  u  to  be  coimtMl  amoi«  the  fim  ofSlu^  nd^S^ 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


•roduction  of  Oriental  apathy  regarding  the  well-being  of 
.  ihers  would  impoverish  our  civilisation.  No  one  who  has  remd 
the  most  recent  European  philosophical  and  critical  literature  can 
have  failed  to  see  how  deeply  this  question  is  agitating  the  Euro- 
pean mind.— (Reinsch,  "World  Politics,"  p.  243) 

It  may  be  so.  It  surely  will  be  so,  unless  the  non-Christiaii 
races  are  redeemed  by  the  Ck>spel  and  the  power  of  tiie  Gospel 
is  al'owed  to  purge  their  souls  and  give  to  their  raw  capacities 
the  i^  ace  which  is  to  be  their  contribution  to  the  ultimate  Chris- 
tianisation  of  humanity.  We  discern  anew  the  grounds  on  whidh 
the  missionary  enterprise  rests.  It  is  needed  io  enable  the  non- 
Christian  peoples  to  make  their  contribution  to  Christianity. 

And  it  is  needed  to  enable  Christianity  to  realise  itself.  So 
far  from  needing  anything  from  the  non-Christian  religions, 
Christianity  needs  only  one  thing,  that  is,  to  give  herself  to 
the  non-Christian  peoples.  There  is  wanting  in  her  nothing  that 
other  systems  can  provide.  There  is  wanting  only  the  discovery 
and  fulfilling  of  her  own  true  character,  which  is  possible  only 
as  ?he  gives  herself,  not  in  the  person  of  a  few  of  her  sons  and 
daughters,  but  in  all  her  being  and  utterances,  to  the  supreme  task 
of  redeeming  the  worid,  nay,  of  bringing  the  world  into  tiie  oi» 
perfect  redemption  which  has  been  already  wrought. 

9.  I  have  one  concluding  word  to  add.  This  view  of  the 
non-Christian  religions,  and  of  our  attitude  to  them,  is  not  the 
Gospel.  It  is  not  this  message  with  which  we  are  to  go  out 
to  the  world.  This  is  what  we  have  to  say  to  ourselves  when 
we  examine  the  grounds  of  our  enterprise  and  state  its  warrant 
to  the  Christian  Church.  But  our  message  to  the  non-Christian 
religions  is  the  one  simple,  positive  yet  infinite  and  inexhaustible 
message  of  Christ.  It  was  after  a  venture  in  comparative  reli- 
gion at  Athens,  of  which  apparently  little  came,  that  St.  Paul 
wrote  to  the  Corinthians :  "  I  determined  to  know  nothing  uaang 
you  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified."  It  is  with  true  cour- 
tesy and  with  frank  and  manly  sympathy,  and  with  a  quiet  but 
yearning  love,  that  we  go  to  meet  the  people  of  the  non-Chrisdan 
faiUis  to  win  them  to  the  Saviour.  We  must  put  ourselves  in 
their  places.  How  woukl  we  wish  to  be  approached?  How  would 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  NON-CHRISTIAN  REUGIONS  323 


the  Gospel  most  effectively  reach  us  if  we  were  where  they  are, 
with  their  traditions  and  long  inheritances  and  sacred  memories 
and  infinitely  complicated  networic  of  human  relationships,  of  in- 
tellectual ideas,  and  of  actual  responsibilities?  We  are  asking 
no  light  thing  of  men.  We  must  not  approach  them  with  de- 
nunciation of  all  that  they  regard  most  sacred,  with  ruthless 
contempt  for  the  intricate  intertwinings  of  the  buried  roots  of 
tares  and  wheat.  "  We  must  not  approach  them  as  if  they 
knew  that  they  were  themselves  deficient,  and  that  it  was  only 
pride  and  obstinacy  that  prevented  them  from  listening  to  us." — 
(Archbishop  Benson,  quoted  in  Cust,  "  Missionary  Methods," 
p.  264.)  We  do  not  approach  them  so.  We  approach  them  as 
the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  blind  and  far  advanced  in  years, 
counselled  Boniface  to  approach  the  souls  to  whom  he  was  sent 
in  Hesse,  avoiding  scrupulously  ali  contemptuous  and  violent 
language,  and  trying  above  all  things  to  show  forth  a  spirit  of 
moderation  and  of  patience.  It  is  thus  we  go  to  them.  We 
love  them.  It  is  because  we  tove  them  that  we  go  to  tiiem.  And 
some  day  love  will  win  them.  It  will  go  out  after  them  and 
will  wait  for  them.  It  may  be  kept  waiting  for  long  years,  but 
it  win  wait,  and  at  last,  in  the  triumph  of  Christ  over  the  world's 
life  and  the  divine  perfecting  of  the  world's  life  in  Chri^  it 
will  see  of  its  soul's  travail  and  be  content 


If 


VI 


THE  RELATION  OF  MISSIONS  TO  THE 
UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE 
UNITY  OF  THE  WORLD 


VI 


THE  RELATION  OF  MISSIONS  TO  THE  UNITY 
OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  UNITY  OF 
THE  WORLD 


HE  objects  which  the  missionary  enterprise  seeks  include 


and  require  the  unity  of  the  Christian  Church.  Let 


^  us  consider  first  some  of  the  conditions  which  indicate 
tiiat  sndi  Qiristiaii  unity  on  the  foreign  nusskm  field  is  deriraUe 
and  necessary. 

( I )  In  the  first  place,  the  magnitude,  the  difficulties,  and  the 
urgency  of  the  task  which  is  before  us  demand  the  most  fruitful 
and  effective  use  of  all  our  resources.  We  have  to  secure  the 
evangelisation  of  a  thousand  million  of  our  fellow-creatures; 
that  is,  to  carry  spiritual  truth,  the  most  difficult  of  all  truth 
to  carry  truly,  to  two-thirds  of  the  human  race,  and  to  sedc  to 
persuade  men,  not  only  to  embrace  this  truth,  but  to  place  their 
characters  under  the  transforming  influence  of  the  Lord  of  it. 
The  task  contemplates  changing  the  opinions  of  men,  not  upon  im- 
perscmal  questions  or  matters  of  nuiterial  self-interest,  but  upon 
religion,  of  which  men  are  ever  most  reluctant  to  think  exactly,  or 
indeed  really  to  think  at  all;  and  not  the  opinions  of  the  open- 
minded  only,  but  those  even  of  the  ignorant  and  prejudiced  with 
whom  religious  traditions  are,  if  possible,  even  more  inveterate 
than  with  the  enlightened.  And  the  work  involves  not  only  the 
change  of  men's  opinions,  but  also  the  revolution  of  their  char- 
acter, new  principles  of  tetion  dispUtcing  old  and  producing 
a  new  fruitage  of  deeds.  And  further,  it  is  not  to  suffice  to  try 
to  do  this  in  individuals  only.  That  is  fundamental,  but  through 
that  and  beyond  that,  it  is  proposed  to  introduce  the  new  prin- 
ciples into  society  and  to  drive  out  u  far  as  taty  be  all  ^at 
is  alien  to  die  Kingdom  of  God  and  tihat  wiU  not  be  trntunXbtd 


328 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


in  it.  And  this  work  is  to  be  done,  not  in  any  one  land,  nor  in 
any  one  language,  nor  in  any  one  set  of  conditions.  It  must 
be  dcme  in  all  of  the  non-Christian  lands,  among  all  types  of 
races,  from  the  savage  up  to  the  peoples  proud  of  civilisations 
long  antedating  ours,  and  made  less  accessible  by  their  hate  and 
contempt  for  us,  and  by  the  materialism  of  the  commercial 
dvilisati(Mi  with  which  we  have  approached  them.  It  nrast  be 
done  in  many  scores  of  languages,  which  have  not  only  to  be 
mastered,  but  in  many  cases  to  be  expanded  in  order  to  express 
the  truth  which  is  to  be  conveyed.  It  has  to  be  done  under 
trying  physical  conditions  of  cKmate,  which  break  down  the 
health  of  strong  men  and  women  and  reduce  the  term  of  avail- 
able service,  and  what  is  even  more  serious,  under  conditions 
of  moral  climate  which  make  the  task  hopeless  except  with  God. 
It  has  to  be  done  under  all  conditions  of  mtellectual  difficulty, 
demanding  the  truest  and  least  confused  presentation  of  the 
salvation  th^t  is  in  Christ.  And  furthermore,  the  work  must 
be  done  by  ?ly  persuasive  and  moral  agencies.  The  induce- 
ments which  trade  and  political  power  wield  are  not  available. 
Men  must  be  won  to  the  truth  by  motives  to  which  only  the 
tmtii  in  men  can  respond.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  men 
s(Mnetimes  sneer  at  the  missionary  enterprise  as  visionary  and 
impossible.  It  -^s  look  so,  but  as  General  Armstrong  exclaimed 
once  at  a  Conl'  <:nce  at  Lake  Mohonk  in  behalf  of  the  Indians, 
when  some  one  objected  to  a  certain  righteous  course  of  action 
on  the  ground  that  it  was  impossible :  "  What  are  Christians 
in  the  world  for  but  to  achieve  the  impossible  by  the  help  of 
God?"  Without  that  help  our  task  is  certauily  chimerical,  and 
that  help  will  only  be  available  to  us  on  its  own  conditi(ms. 
We  cannot  expect  it  if  in  the  face  of  such  an  undertaking  we 
are  so  foolish  as  to  waste  our  energies  or  not  to  measure  our 
forces  over  against  our  work.  And  tiie  moment  we  do  make 
this  measurement  we  realise  that  the  supreme  necessity  is  for 
union  of  all  our  efforts.  The  task  is  too  great  and  too  difficult 
and  too  uigent  for  any  one  section  of  Christians  to  hope  to 
accomplish  it  alone.  As  the  late  Bishop  of  London  wrote  to 
Mr.  W.  H.  T.  Gairdner,  when  he  enquired  of  lum  in  1898  as 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


3»9 


to  the  propriety  of  participation  by  Anglican  stadorts  in  the 
work  of  the  World's  Student  Movement:  "No  one  religious 
body  can  undertake  all  the  v.   k  that  is  to  be  done."  Where 
no  ho&y  of  Christians  can  do  the  woric  alone,  tU  aloofness  from 
the  rest  with  which  it  might  do  it  is  indefensiWe,  unless  indeed 
the  work  is  not  important  or  urgent.   "  I  say  again  here,"  said 
the  Bishop  of  Albany  (U.  S.  A.)  in  a  notoble  charge  to  his 
clergy,  speaking  of  the  Protestant  Episo^  Church  in  the 
United  States,  "if  we  were  large  enough  and  liberal  enough 
as  a  Church  to  assume  the  responsibility  for  preaching  the 
Gospd  to  every  creature,  there  nrig^t  be  some  excuse  for  our 
lack  of  recognition  of  those  who,  along  lines  that  differ  ma- 
terially from  our  own,  are  nobly  striving  to  carry  the  message 
of  our  Master  to  those  by  whom  it  has  not  been  heard.  But 
while  we  are  so  very  unequal  to  the  task  in  numbers  or  in 
liberality,  it  seems  to  me  impossible  to  hold  aloof  in  our  sym- 
pathy from  those  who,  with  a  profounder  missionary  zeal,  are 
striving  to  do,  according  to  tfjeir  own  convictkms,  the  work 
which  we  are  so  largely  neglecting."   But  even  if  one  Christian 
body  might  h<^  to  accomplish  the  wo  k  in  many  generations, 
were  we  to  wait  for  it,  we  cannot  wait,  for  these  multitudes  are 
passing  away,  and  before  they  pass  are  entitled  to  know  of 
the  Lord  who  died  for  them  and  Who  would  be  their  Way  and 
Light,  and  no  one  denomination  of  Christians  has  a  right  to 
claim  the  whole  worid  as  its  preserve,  the  generations  to  wait 
u:  til  it  can  compass  them  all  in  its  dencmimaticmal  name.  The 
need  is  too  urgent.    There  are,  moreover,  great  forces  astir 
throughout  the  world  which  will  not  wait  for  their  permanent 
die  and  stamp.  If  we  do  not  seiie  them  in  tiiis  generation  and 
claim  them  for  God,  they  will  set  and  harden  in  permanently 
atheistic  form.    The  magnitude  of  the  missionary  enterprise, 
tfie  difficulties,  and  the  urgency  of  tiie  task  forbid  all  waste  and 
inefficiency  and  demand  unity. 

(a)  In  the  second  place,  the  elementary  needs  of  the  peoples 
we  are  to  reach  call  primarily  for  what  is  fundamental  and 
essential  in  Christianity.  The  great  evib  of  the  workl  are  tin 
deacatuy  moal  evils  of  'mparity,  inequality,  and  hopdesness. 


330        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


The  world  does  not  know  the  character  of  God,  and  therefore 
it  is  unclean;  the  world  does  not  know  the  love  of  God,  and 
therefore  men  are  not  brothers;  the  world  does  not  know  the 
life  of  God,  and  therefore  men  despair  alike  of  the  present  and 

the  future.  And  these  three  things:  the  character  of  God,  and 
the  love  of  God,  and  the  life  of  God,  are  not  the  things  on  which 
we  disagree.  They  constitute  the  great  fundamental  and  ele- 
mentary things  in  Christianity,  and  it  is  for  these  and  not  for 
any  of  the  points  about  which  we  are  at  variance  that  the 
world  primarily  calls.  It  wants  Christ,  and  that  is  all.  I  know 
that  this  sounds  much  simpler  th?n  it  is,  but  it  is  simple  enough. 
He  will  take  care  of  the  complicated  problems  of  Asia  and 
Africa  and  South  America.  Far  wiser  men  than  we  are  have 
been  wont  in  their  furthest  wanderings  to  come  back  simply  to 
Him.  " '  Simply  to  Thy  cross  I  cling '  is  enough  for  me,"  said 
Armstrong.  And  of  "  Rabbi  "  Duncan  it  was  said  that  he  could 
always  find  his  way  back  to  Christ  as  a  sinful  man,  knowing 
nowhere  else  to  go.  "  Thou,  O  Christ,  art  all  I  want,"  we  sii^, 
and  the  declaration  is  no  weak  surrender  of  the  awful  problem 
which  the  application  of  Christ  to  human  need  involves.  It  is 
the  simple  assertion  that  in  the  mazes  of  the  labyrinth  we  are 
still  holding  fast  to  the  clue.  And  so  also  of  the  world  and 
its  multitudes.  "  Thou,  O  Christ,  art  all  they  want."  He  is 
the  world's  one  profound  need,  and  th-^  simplicity  of  that  need 
invites  unity. 

(3)  In  the  third  place,  the  definiteness  of  the  missionary  aim 
provides  for  unity.  That  aim,  as  has  been  repeatedly  pointed 
out,  is  the  establishment  of  strong  national  Churches  which  shall 
be  self-propagating,  self-supporting,  self-governing,  the  naturali- 
sation of  Christianity  in  the  national  life  of  the  different  non- 
Christian  peoples.  Leaders  of  many  different  Churches  and 
sdxmls  of  o^moa  unite  in  their  ju<^[ment  as  to  the  clear  and 
definite  aim  of  {'■""ign  missions: 

"  The  aim  of  '  missions  in  India,"  says  Professor  Christlieb 
of  Bonn,  "  should  be  to  create  an  independent  Church  in  the 
future,  neither  Episcopalian,  nor  Presbyterian,  nor  Congrega- 
tional, Imt  the  outeome  of  the  natkmal  ^rit   Fot,  now  tiiU 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


331 


people  are  coming  over  to  Christianity  in  masses,  the  question 
as  to  the  formation  of  a  Protestant  National  Indian  Church 
must  become  ever  more  and  more  a  burning  one.  "  It  behooved 
England  "  said  Archbishop  Benson,  "  to  insist  on  tiie  principle 
on  which  she  lived — that  in  the  whole  united  body  of  the  Catholic 
Church  there  mtist  be  national  Churches,  and  that  each  must 
hdd  the  Gospel  with  such  forms  as  might  interpret  it  in  the 
bMt  light  to  itself."  Dr.  Norman  Macleod  put  the  whole  matter 
more  vigorously  still :  "  Is  the  grand  army  to  remain  broken 
up  into  separate  divisions,  each  to  recruit  to  its  own  standard, 
and  to  invite  the  Hindus  to  wear  our  respective  tmiforms,  adopt 
our  respective  shibboleths,  learn  and  repeat  our  respective  war- 
cries,  and  even  make  caste  marks  of  our  wounds  and  scars, 
which  to  us  are  bu*  the  sad  mementos  of  old  battles?  Or,  to 
drop  all  metaphors,  shall  Christian  converts  s  .  iia  be  grouped  j 
and  stereotyped  into  Episcopalian  Churci.^  Presbyterian 
Churches,  Lutheran  Churches,  Methodist  Churches,  Baptist 
Churdtes,  or  Independent  Churches,  and  adopt  as  tiieir  respective 
creeds  the  Confession  of  Faith,  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  or  some 
other  formula  approved  of  by  our  forefathers,  and  the  separating 
signs  of  some  British  or  American  sect?  Whether  any  Church 
serioudy  entertains  this  design  I  know  not,  tiiot^  I  suspect  it 
of  some,  and  I  feel  assured  that  it  will  be  realised  in  part  as 
conversions  increase  by  means  of  foreign  missions,  and  be  at  last 
perpetuated,  unless  it  is  now  carefully  guarded  against  by  every 
opportunity  being  watched  and  taken  advnt^  of  to  propagate 
a  different  idea,  and  to  rear  up  an  independent  and  all-inclusive 
native  Indian  Church.  By  such  a  Church  I  mean  one  which 
shall  be  organised  and  governed  hy  the  natives  thonsdves,  as 
far  as  possible  independently  of  us." 

The  Churches,  which  it  is  the  aim  of  foreign  missions  to 
i^und  diat  we  may  co-operate  with  them  for  the  evangelisation 
of  the  world,  ou^t,  by  their  very  nature,  to  be  united  Churdws. 
They  are  not  a  set  of  imported  denominations  or  of  Western 
Churches  orientalised.  To  the  extent  that  we  ever  realise  our 
aim.  tiiey  will  be  indigenous  native  C^rehes.  For  we  are  not 
tryof  to  spnad  over  tiw  worid  ai^  particular  view  oi  Qtrirttta 


I 


33a        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


truth  or  any  particular  form  of  Christian  organisation.  I  be- 
long to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  I  have  not  the  slightest 
zeal  in  seeking  to  have  the  Presbyterian  Church  extended  over 
the  non-Christian  world.  I  believe  in  one  Church  of  Christ  in 
each  land,  and  that  it  is  far  more  important  that  the  Presby- 
terians of  Japan  should  be  related  to  the  Methodists  of  Japan 
than  that  either  of  these  bodies  should  possess  any  connection 
whatever  with  any  ecdestastical  organisation  in  tiie  United 
States. 

It  is  sometimes  alleged  that  even  if  we  accept  this  view  at 
home,  the  native  Christians  themselves  will  not  endorse  it,  that 
they  disavow  our  ideal  and  are  conscientious  denominationalists. 
There  have  been  instances  of  this,  but  they  have  been  ex- 
ceptioittl.  In  many  fields  the  great  mass  of  native  Christians 
do  not  know  of  these  different  denominations.  They  are  Chris- 
tians or  believers  in  Jesus,  and  while  they  may  know  the  differ- 
ence between  Protestants  and  Catholics,  they  are  entirely  capaUe 
of  amalgamation  in  one  common  evangdioal  Christian  Orardi. 
Native  Christian  leaders  are  sometimes  opposed  to  such  a  move- 
ment because  they  prefer  to  be  supported  by  foreign  funds, 
and  they  realise  tiiat  tiwse  are  more  certain  of  continuance  in 
subsidised  denominational  native  Churches.  When  all  the  native 
Christians  unite,  it  means  self-support  and  the  wholesome  exer- 
cise of  control  by  the  body  of  native  lay  Christians.  Some  native 
agents  do  not  relish  this,  but  the  best  men  do.  They  have  seen 
the  right  ideal  and  they  are  working  for  it.  Missionaries  should 
help  them.  The  best  are  eagerly  doing  so.  The  Bishop  of 
Lucknow  spoke  plain  words  on  this  point  at  the  Bengal  Church 
Missionary  Conference  in  iSSa: 

Yes,  brethren,  let  us  not  deceive  ourselves  in  this  matter;  the 
sin  and  shame  of  the  disunion  which  exists  among  native  Chris- 
tians rest  almost  entirely  with  us  European  missionaries.  It 
IS  we  who  are  guilty;  we  do  not  conciliate  our  brethren,  and 
have  often  carried  ourselves  stiffly  and  as  though  we  had  a 
monopoly  of  the  grace  of  God ;  and  the  nonconformist  mission- 
aries have  needlessly  perpetuated  their  sectarianiMn  and  imposed 
it  upon  their  converts  in  this  heathoi  ccHintry,  where  often  tiie 


MISSIONS  '>:d  unitv 

original  cause  of  difference  hu  no  existence.  God  forjrive  us 
^Sk^A'^r  tH^'^'Z?  gtalty.cooceming  our  brethren!*  How 
should  they  know,  how  should  they  be  able  to  stand  out  for 
union  against  those  whom  they  regard  as  their  spiritual  fathers? 
No  It  IS  we  who  are  to  blame,  we  with  our  pharisaism  and  our 
bigotry  and  our  want  of  brotherly  love.  Let  «,  not  attenmt  to 
excuse  or  hide  our  fault,  but.  frankly  acknowledging  it  to 
and  one  another  and  our  native  brethren,  try  to  make  amc^ 
H^'"  tt  becomes  too  late,  begin  to  strive  sincer?!?  and 

!Z4.^«?rS."-  f H°*»PPy  divisions  and  buUd  i,  the 
Omrch  of  Chmt  in  godly  unioa  and  concord. 

I  do  not  know  the  conditions  that  prevailed  in  India  in  1883 
and  called  forth  these  strong  words.  I  bdteve  that  in  every 
mission  field  to-day  the  great  body  of  the  missionaries  and 
native  Christians  alike  cherish  the  ideals  which  have  been  set 
forth  here.  If  these  national  Churches  come,  we  do  not  say  they 
will  not  break  apart  again,  but  if  they  do,  the  shame  of  their 
division  wiU  rest  upon  themselves,  and  their  denominations  will 
spring  out  of  the  bitter  realities  of  their  own  sins  and  not  out 
of  alien  and  imported  traditions.  Our  own  duty  is  dear,  and 
the  clarity  and  distinctness  of  that  duty,  the  unity  of  our  gov- 
emujg  pnnaple,  show  us  not  only  how  desirable  and  practica- 
ble, but  also  how  necessary  and  indispensable  unity  is. 

(4)  In  the  fourth  place,  we  are  already  agreed  in  the  evan- 
gelical Churches  of  the  West  on  the  intellectual  basis  of  common 
faith  which  is  necessary  for  such  unity  abroad.  We  believe  in 
one  God  and  Father  of  us  aH,  and  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  in  one  Holy  Spirit,  and  in  one  Bible,  and  in  one  faith,  and 
m  one  salvation.  It  is  true  that  to  reach  such  a  basis  of  agree- 
ment we  have  to  go  back  beyond  the  origins  of  many  of  the 
contradictions  which  separate  us.  But  men  are  now  rcMfy  to " 
do  this.  "  The  question  of  unity,"  says  Bishop  Fyson  of  the 
Church  of  England  in  Japan,  "  seems  to  me  ahnost,  if  not  quite, 
the  most  important  of  afl  for  the  Church  at  the  present  day 
and  I  would  go  great  lengths  to  attain  it.  The  only  hope  of 
ultimate  agreement  amongst  the  different  Christian  orders  is, 
as  t  tmm  to  me,  to  get  back  to  the  most  primitive  time,  not 
to  tlM  third  cMtury,  or  to  the  tecoud,  but  to  the  Ntw  TeMn- 


334        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


nent.  That  is  the  only  common  basis  on  which  we  are  likely 
to  agree."  And  this  is  not  the  voice  of  a  single  Christian  leader 
alone.  The  Anglican  Bishc^  in  India,  in  their  encyclical  letter 
in  1900,  set  forth  the  basis  which  they  deemed  su£Bcient  for 
fellowship  and  co-operation,  at  least,  in  good  works: 

As  Bishops  of  the  Church  we  pray  for  visible  unity,  but  we 
pray  with  no  less  earnestness  for  sympathy  and  charity.  The 
presence  of  the  many  millions  who  know  not  Christ  in  India  and 
Ceylon  exercises  in  itself  a  harmonising  influence  upon  Chris- 
tians. But  it  appears  to  us  that  the  path  of  Christian  unity  lies 
not  so  much  in  ignoring  or  disguising  diflferences  as  in  the  wide 
and  common  ground  of  belief  in  our  Lord's  Divinity,  in  His 
Incarnation,  in  His  passion,  and  in  His  ascension  to  glory.  Those 
who  bow  before  Him  as  the  one  Divine  Friend  and  Redeemer  of 
mankind,  who  acknowledge  that  His  sacrifice  upon  Calvary  is 
the  one  true  "  sacrif.ce,  oblation,  and  satisfaction  for  the  sins 
of  the  whole  world,"  will  depart  widely  from  His  spirit  if  they 
make  of  minor  historical  questions,  about  winch  Christians  may 
and  do  honestly  dissent  one  from  another,  final  btrriers  aad 
obstacles  to  brotherly  love  and  co-operation. 

We  therefore  heartily  invite  our  fellow-Christians  of  all  de- 
nominations to  join  with  us  for  Christ's  sake  in  the  fellowship 
of  good  works,  and  in  the  cultivati<Mi  of  a  charitaUe  and  sympa- 
thetic spirit  throughout  the  Christian  workl,  and  in  united  prayer 
for  these  sacred  ends. 

And  more  recently  still  the  whole  body  of  Protestant  mis- 
sionaries in  China  at  the  Centenary  Conference  agreed  in  de- 
claring that  they  were  already  one  in  their  comnaMi  faith  and 
witnMS  to  the  Goqid  of  the  grace  of  God. 

Whereas  [they  declared]  it  is  frequently  asserted  that 
Protestant  missions  present  a  divided  front  to  those  outside, 
and  create  confusion  by  a  large  variety  of  inconsistent  teaching, 
and  whereas  the  minds  both  of  Christian  and  nmi-Christian 
Chinese  are  in  danger  of  being  thus  misled  into  an  exaggerated 
estimate  of  our  differences,  this  Centenary  Cmiforence,  repre- 
senting all  Protestant  missions  at  present  woridnff  in  Chitw, 
unanimously  and  cordially  declares: 

That  this  Conference  unanimously  hdds  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  the  n^remc  standard  of  faith 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  335 

Mid  practice,  and  holds  firmly  the  primitive  apostolic  faith. 
Farther,  while  acknowledging  the  Apostles'  Creed  and  the  Nicene 

£?*!?v,*- fundamental  doctrines  of 
the  Christian  faith  the  Conference  does  not  adopt  anyCreed 
S,JhS'!f  °^?urch  umty.  and  leaves  confessional  questions  for 
o?hI:^H^?'  °*  o"*-  knowledge  of  each 

^JoL.?*^*""*  ^^"'^^'i  character!  we  gladly 

wav^n^Zf  f  ^  Christ,  teichini  onj 

Trfrf  »c  «    ™    life,  and  calling  men  into  one  holy  fellowship; 

VJu^  *°  body  of  doctrine  of  the  Chris- 

cSi  ♦1.^°"''  '^T  *°  of  God  the  Father. 

JS^in  ?r  V  *"**  testimony  as  tc^ 

sm  and  salvation,  and  our  ho.nage  to  the  Divine  and  Holy 
deemer  of  men;  one  in  our  caU  to  the  purity  of  the  Christian 
fSnl?'"  *°      ^'Plendours  of  the  Christian  ho^" 

,  We  frankly  recognise  that  we  differ  as  to  methods  of  ad^ 
Z'tK^'S-ff"^  government.    But  we  S  ij  l^  dh^ 

that  these  differences  do  not  invalidate  the  asserticm  of  «w  iSfl 
umty  m  our  common  witness  to  the  Gospel  of  the^  S  (SS 

Here  surely,  we  have  an  adequate  basis  of  inteDectual  agree- 
ment   What  more  do  we  require  than  "a  real  unity  in  our 
common  witness  to  the  Gospel"?    We  differ,  perhaps,  as  to 
the  symbols  in  which  Chrisrianity  expresses  itself,  and  as  to 
the  institutional  forms  in  which  it  is  embodied,  but  we  are  aO 
agreed  as  to  the  spiritual  principles  which  are  expressed  in  these 
symbols  and  embodied  in  these  institutions,  and,  surely  that 
agreement  in  these  spiritual  principles  is  the  fundamental  and 
essential  thing,  and  even  in  a  great  united  Church,  when  it 
comes,  there  will  be  room  made  for  some  disagreement  as  to 
our  symboUMd  our  institutional  forms.  We  are  agreed  enough 
1  say,  m  our  common  intellectual  convictions,  regarding  Sw 
fundamental  elements  of  our  Christian  faith  to  make  the  union 
Of  the  Church  m  the  non-Christian  worid  entirely  practicable 
We  have  one  common  Lord.    In  that  we  all  agree  and 
no  one  doubts  the  other's  love  of  Him.    Believing  this,  iurely 
no  one  can  say  less  than  the  Bishop  of  Newcastle  said  at  the 
Uiurch  of  England  Conference  in  Nottingham  in  1897-  "  When 
men  agree  in  love  for  a  common  Lord,  and  can  thank  Him  for 
admission  to  His  Kingdom  on  earth,  and  trust  Him  for  tlw 


.  1' 


336 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


time  to  come,  it  is  certain  that  this  community  o{  faith  will 
find  expression  in  ways  which  scarcely  need  to  be  dassified  as 

though  else  it  would  cease  to  exist.  If  they  do  not  love  'one 
Lord,'  no  unity  of  ecclesiastical  organisation  will  ever  bring 
them  together.  If  they  do  love  'one  Lord,'  no  differences  of 
organisation  can  really  keep  them  permanently  apart  The  man 
who  feels  strongly  the  truth  of  his  own  convictions  is  just  the 
man  who  can  afford  to  be  tcderant  in  dealing  with  others,  and 
the  English  Churchman  who  realises  that  about  four-fifths  of 
the  results  of  foreign  missions,  outside  those  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  are  due  to  other  Christian  bodies  than  his  own,  will 
gladly  recognise  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  in  the  labours  of  others 
throughout  the  world,  and  without  abating  one  iota  of  what  he 
holds  and  teaches  as  true,  will  see  the  wisdom  of  the  resolution 
passed  by  the  Bishops  at  the  recent  Lambeth  Conference :  '  That 
in  the  foreign  mission  field  of  the  Church's  work,  where  signal 
spiritual  Uessings  have  attended  the  labour  of  Christian  mis- 
sionaries not  connected  with  the  Anglican  communion,  a  special 
obligation  has  arisen  to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible  without  com- 
promise of  principle,  whatever  tends  to  prevent  the  due  growtfi 
and  manifestation  of  that  "unity  of  the  Spirit,"  which  should 
ever  mark  the  Church  of  Christ.' "  And  that  due  growth  and 
manifestation,  we  are  confident,  will  be  something  actual  and 
discernible. 

(5)  In  the  fifth  place,  the  Occidental  character  of  our  divi- 
sions makes  it  both  unnecessary  and  inexpedient  to  export  them 
to  the  mission  field.  Our  denominational  difiFereiKes  rest  on 
historical  grounds.  This  history  has  significance  to  us.  It  has 
none  on  the  mission  field.  So  far  as  our  different  Churches 
spring  from  different  historical  incidents  in  our  Western  life, 
they  may  justify  themselves  to  us,  tmt  they  cannot  on  diese 
grn  ids  justify  themselves  to  the  Chinese  and  Indians.  Our 
differences  as  to  Christian  doctrine,  moreovor,  which  seem  to 
warrant  our  separatk»,  are  artificial  in  Asia.  It  is  not  necessary 
there  to  prevent  men  from  being  boUi  Cahrinists  and  Arminians 
at  the  same  time,  as  most  of  thrm  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  here 
at  home  .  ow.   Indeed,  the  Methodists  have  been  working  all 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  jjy 
these  years  with  great  success  with  a  Calvinistic  type  of  theology 

m  China.  One  of  them  complained  recentiy  in  a  paper  published 
by  their  press  in  Shan^:  r-i-  f 

What  distinctively  Methodist  literature  does  Methodism  in 
Chma  need  at  present?  In  answer.  I  would  say  wiSg  needed 

TreltrfrSiTiT^i^J?'^-.  ^  /know^tL^^  iHo 

ured  witH  S^f,5  ?^'^*  '**"^P°'"*-  .^hat  we  have  is  tinc^ 
lurea  with  a  diluted  Calvinism,  not  rank,  to  be  sure  hiit  still 
retainmg  a  mild  flavour  of  that  dead  systeik 

Many  of  us  would  think  that  theology  that  combined  Cal- 

vinisra  and  Armmianism  was  a  very  desirable  theology,  and 

^  ^"PP"*d  than  ^ith  a 

theological  teaching  that  recognised  the  truth  in  both  of  these 
systems.  Some,  however,  are  for  separating  the  two  and  re- 
producing m  Asia  the  theological  differences  of  the  West.  In  a 
later  number  of  the  little  pubUcation  just  referred  to,  another 
musi<mary  writes: 

C^.uH^L^'aiVu^^''^  ^  P?'"*^**  *°  o"*-  preachers  present 
fh.f  ThlZ!l  ^^J"  congregations,  and.  what  is  worse,  to  taow 
wUh  thtt^Jn  '^"f*'*  i"  tJeoJogical  seminaries  are  tbcSSd 
with  that  dead  system?  Let  the  Methodists  of  China  look  about 

fsr^  LfZ"^''''  *  ""''^      «Pi"»     God  and  Me?K 

{sjjand^tjnmaside  for  the  work  of  preparing  dean  Methodist 

"  °^  "^^^^^  *°  *'"^*P°rt  our  divergent 

systems?  Even  among  ourselves  it  is  only  .  few  theolorical 
specialists  who  are  able  to  keep  them  divergent.  The  great^. 
hL' Christians  have  already  merged  them,  indeed,  never 
hwl  them  separated,  and  the  specialists  even  cannot  keep  them 
apart  m  practical  work  and  life.  The  ArminiMi  cannot  pray 
excep  as  a  Calyinist,  and  th.  Calvinist  cannot  preach  the  Gospd 
except  as  an  Armmian.  The  universal  mind  wiU  not  be  re- 
sponsible  for  the  perpetuation  of  these  divisioiu.  The  things 
that  have  kept  us  apart  here  do  not  root  down  to  what  b  fttiMk- 
mental  or  universal  or  eternal  or  reaUy  trantporttble:  tti^  root 


338 


CHRISnANTTY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


only  into  those  things  which  are  Occidental  or  temnorary,  and 
which  we  cannot  transport  and  make  gentiinely  native  to  the 
non-Christian  lands  or  permanently  retain  among  ourselves. 
This  Occidental  and  transient  character  of  our  differences  in- 
vites us  to  union  abroad. 

a.  In  the  second  place,  to  what  d^ee  and  kind  of  unity 
do  these  considerations  of  which  I  have  been  speaking  summon 
us?  (i)  In  the  first  place,  they  call  manifestly  to  a  union  that 
shall  prevent  all  waste  and  friction ;  for  all  friction  is  disloyalty 
to  Christ,  and  all  waste  is  disloyalty  to  the  world.  All  fricticm 
is  disloyalty  to  Christ  because  it  argues  another  principle  su- 
perior to  His  principle  of  brotherly  love  and  unselfishness,  and 
all  waste  is  disloyalty  to  the  worid  because  it  denies  to  great 
masses  of  our  fellow-men  a  Gospel  that  might  be  carried  to 
them  if  there  were  no  waste  and  duplication  and  overlapping. 
The  considerations  of  which  I  have  spoken  demand  of  us  a 
kind  of  union  that  will  prevent  all  waste  and  frictkm  <»  the 
foreign  field.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  is  great  waste 
and  friction.  There  is  some,  but  it  is  not  great.  But  any  is  too 
much.  The  contention  that  the  heatiien  are  puzzled  and  con- 
fused by  our  multiplicity  of  sects,  and  that  we  are  quarrelling 
abroad,  is  groundless.  How  richly  we  have  already  attained  we 
shall  presently  see,  and  as  to  the  confusion  of  the  heathen,  we 
have  never  known  in  Christendcnn  such  schism  and  contention 
as  have  marked  the  non-Christian  religions,  and  they  have  never 
known  anything  like  the  unity  of  Christianity.  But  there  is 
need  and  room  for  a  practical  co-operation  of  effort  on  the  for- 
eign field,  which  will  make  the  work  more  powerful  and  fruitful. 
The  considerations  which  we  have  reviewed  show  how  necessarjr 
and  practicable  that  co-operation  is. 

(a)  For,  in  the  second  place,  what  these  considerations  de- 
mand is  not  merely  an  avoidance  of  collision  and  strife;  it  is 
the  presence  of  a  positive  co-operation  that  bids  us  to  say  to 
one  another  not  "Hands  off,"  but  "Hands  together."  They 
command  us  not  to  divide  that  we  may  march  separately,  but 
to  draw  near  that  we  may  march  together.  The  great  «-hings 
which  are  to  be  attained  in  the  world's  evangelisation  cannot  be 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  339 

done  by  companies  of  Christian  men  who  agree  to  differ:  they 
can  only  be  done  by  great  companies  of  Christian  men  who 
relate  themselves  for  common  and  united  action.  Not  only  do 
these  considerations  demand  that  we  should  avoid  negatively  the 
things  that  impair  the  efficiency  of  our  efforts,  but  they  require 
also  that  we  should  provide  positively  the  things  that  will  make 
our  efforts  more  powerful  and  more  effective. 

(3)  In  the  third  place,  these  consideratiwis  call  not  only  for 
this  external  form  of  co-operation  of  which  we  have  spoken. 
They  call  for  the  most  living  and  real  and  spiritual  unity.  And 
we  believe  this,  first  of  all,  because  this  was  the  kfad  of  unity 
for  which  our  Lord  prayed.   We  hear  men  say  now  and  then 
that  vrhzt  we  need  on  the  mission  field  and  that  we  need  nothing 
more-Hs  fratenlal  relations.  Our  Lord  did  not  pray  "  that  they 
all  may  be  one  as  John  and  James  are  one,  or  as  brothers  are 
one,"  but,  "  that  they  all  may  be  one  as  Thou  and  I  are  one." 
The  kind  of  unity  for  which  He  prayed  was  not  a  unity  of  fra- 
ternity, not  a  unity  of  relationship  of  men  externally  bound  to 
one  another.   The  ideal  that  He  held  out  was  not  the  icteal  of 
the  unity  of  human  brotherhood,  but  the  ideal  of  the  unity  of 
tile  Godhead  itself;  and  because  we  believe  that  that  was  tiie 
kind  of  unity  for  which  our  Lord  made  His  prayer,  we  believe 
that  that  is  the  kind  of  unity  which  should  be  our  i(feal  on  the 
mission  field.  And  we  believe  this  not  only  because  we  believe 
that  tills  was  tiie  kind  of  unity  for  which  our  Lord  prayed,  but 
also  because  any  other  kind  of  relationship  among  Christians  mis- 
represents His  Gospel.   You  cannot  express  one  God  in  a  split 
Church.   The  Gospel  is  a  message  of  one  God,  of  one  Saviour, 
of  one  human  family,  and  until  we  have  got  all  this  embodied  in 
a  great  human  symbol  that  speaks  of  a  unity  as  real  and  com- 
plete as  this,  we  have  not  got  a  sytiibol  that  represents  correctly 
the  great  Gospel  of  the  Saviour  of  all  the  worid.   And  we  be- 
lieve in  tills  corporate  oneness  in  tiie  tfiird  place,  because  until 
we  have  this  kind  of  unity  our  Gospel  never  can  put  forth  its 
full  power.   We  must  give  Christ  a  body  in  which  He  can  ex- 
press Himsdf  to  the  one  humanity  tiiat  He  came  to  save.  We 
must  give  the  Holy  Spirit  a  channel  thnnigii  wfakh  He  can  pour 


340        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

Himself  out  over  the  whole  world  that  He  came  to  keep  in  Ae 
salvation  and  the  purity  of  the  Saviour. 

And  until  we  have  a  oneness  like  this  our  Giospel  will  go  lame 
and  hak  sad  never  can  have  the  fufawss  of  the  divine  power  for 
the  world's  conviction  which  our  Lord  Himself  said  it  would 
have  only  when  at  last  His  people  had  arrived  at  a  unity  perfected 
into  one  as  He  and  His  Father  were  one.   "  In  common  with 
very  many  of  our  brethren,  both  clerical  and  lay,"  said  the 
Conference  on  Christian  Unity  which  met  in  Edinburgh  in 
May,  1900,  "we  have  had  the  conviction  brought  home  to  our 
consciences  that  tfie  lack  of  visible  unity  amongst  Christian 
people  is  one  of  the  chief  hindrances  by  whidi  all  efforts 
to  advance  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  are  impeded."  And 
this  is  to  be  understood  in  the  deepest  sense.   "  The  faith  that 
finally  overcomes  the  world  is  a  collective  thing.  ...  It  is 
only  the  full  and  solidary  faith  of  a  living  Church  that  can  pos- 
sess the  secret  and  the  command  of  those  marvellous  results 
which  so  far  appear  but  sporadically  and  come  and  go  like  the 
wind.  .  .  .  When  the  Spirit  dwells  in  a  sanctified  "  and  unified 
Church  as  He  dwelt  in  the  Holy  Son  of  God  in  the  unity  of 
the  life  of  the  Godhead,  then  the  Church  will  be  able  to  do  the 
wcmders  that  He  did,  the  power  of  the  Highest  will  come  upon 
her,  and  the  world  will  believe  that  the  Father  sent  the  Son 
to  be  the  Saviour.— (P.  T.  Forsvthe.  The  Sunday  School  Times, 
January  9,  1909;  Art.  "Miraculous  Healing,  Then  and  Now.") 
The  missitMHiries  on  the  foreign  fidd  realise  the  vital  sig- 
nificance of  such  unity  in  the  fulfilment  of  their  aim.  "We 
have  been  mourning  the  slow  progress  of  our  Churches  toward 
sdf-support,"  said  oiw  of  them,  the  Rev.  George  Chapman,  in 
the  discussion  on  Church  Unity  at  the  Japan  Misskmary  Qm- 
ference  in  Tokyo,  in  1900,  "and  many  remedies  are  proposed. 
But  here  is  the  root  evil,  get  rid  of  our  divisions  and  there  would 
soon  be  a  self-supporting  Church.  It  is  because  we  are  divided 
into  so  many  small  congregations  that  united  effort  for  srlf- 
support  is  impossible.    Once  let  them  come  together  and  it 
would  go  forward  by  leaps  and  bounds."   And  it  is  not  self- 
support  only  that  depends  upon  wiHgr,  h  is  the  power  of  tfie 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


341 


native  Churches  to  become  real  national  Churches,  capable  of 
moulding  the  fast-moving  forces  which  are  bearing  the  Eastern 
nations  on  to  their  altered  destinies.  "  The  tasks  before  us  are 
tremendous  and  immediate,"  said  the  China  nrissiotiaries  in  one 
of  the  public  statements  of  their  last  conference.  "  Within  half 
a  generation  it  is  possible  for  Christianity  to  be  established  as 
the  most  decisive  force  in  Chinese  affairs.  To  this  task  we  pro- 
pose to  set  ourselves  with  renewed  devotion  and  a  new  sense 
of  urgency.  In  this  emergency  we  require  the  backing  and 
co-operation  of  Christendom.  Your  progress,  your  feltowship, 
your  efforts,  united  and  forceful  as  ntvtr  before,  are  a  soorce 
of  profound  gratitude  on  our  part.  It  is  not  less  important  that 
we,  in  the  far-flung  battle  line,  shall  be  one  in  spirit  and  aim, 
and  that  we  shall  co-operate  in  our  ommoD  work.  This  has 
already  led  to  union  and  combination  in  educational  work,  in- 
creasing economy  of  working  force  by  division  of  labour  and 
frequent  consultations  in  our  plans.  At  the  present  conference, 
Protestant  missionaries,  representing  many  countries  and  mai^ 
branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  have  come  to  a  new  realisa- 
tion of  our  unity,  and  have  given  definite  expression  to  a  com- 
roai  denre  and  hope  that  in  China  we  shall  not  perpetuate 
our  Occidental  distinctions;  and  we  have  expressed  our  definite 
purpose  to  plant  one  Church  in  which  all  disciples  may  have 
a  common  fellowship  of  joy  and  service.  We  have  taken  action 
which  wiH  soon  result  in  organk  union  between  Churches  hav- 
ing a  common  policy.  And  we  have  planned  for  a  federation 
of  all  Christians  in  the  Empire.  In  these  deliberations  we  have 
been  conscious  of  divine  guidance,  without  which  all  our  plans 
must  fail."~('' Church  Federation"  Second  Aanu^l  R^ort, 
p.  9ff.) 

3.  These  words  of  the  China  missionaries,  summing  up  with 
grateful  joy  the  achievements  of  the  Sfnrit  of  God  in  unifying 
the  missions  in  China,  lead  us  on  to  enquire,  thirdly,  as  to  the 
measure  in  which  the  kind  of  unity  demanded  by  the  considera- 
tions we  have  reviewed  has  been  attained  on  the  foreign  field, 
(i)  In  the  first  place,  we  have  in  some  measure  desisted  from 
in^orting  into  the  various  foreign  fiekls  our  deaontaatioMl 


34*        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


tides  and  proprietary  claims.   Happily,  there  are  some  of  them 
that  camiot  be  translated.   We  do  not  regret  that  the  Chinese 
language  will  not  lend  itself  to  the  perpetuation  of  many  of  our 
names.  You  cannot  translate  the  word  Presbyterian  or  tfie  word 
Methodist  or  the  words  Protestant  Episcopal  into  a  great  many 
of  the  heathen  languages;  the  languages  have  no  such  terms. 
You  can  transHterate  them  and  then  teach  the  heathen  what 
the  names  mean,  but  they  have  no  words  that  correspond  to 
those  and  can  serve  as  translations  for  them.   Happily,  even  in 
the  lands  where  such  terms  exist,  the  missionaries  have  often 
been  wise  enough  to  sink  them  into  the  bacl^round.    It  was 
agreed  at  the  outset  in  the  Philippines,  for  example,  that  the 
evangelical  Churches  should  bear  one  common  Christian  name. 
If  aiqrbody  wanted  to  throw  in  a  little  parenthesis  at  the  end, 
perpetuating  the  Western  denominational  name,  he  could  do 
so,  but  the  outstanding  conspicuous  name  was  one.   The  same 
agreement,  I  believe,  has  been  reached  in  Korea,  and  in  mai^ 
other  lands  from  the  very  beginning  our  Western  denonuna- 
tional  titles  were  not  known.   And  while  here  and  there  a  par- 
ticular missionary  institution  may  bear  some  proprietary  title, 
yet  for  the  most  part  it  is  known  as  the  mission  hospital,  or 
the  mission  school,  or  the  mission  press,  and  no  particular  name 
is  tied  to  it  to  create  distinctions  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
may  know  of  it.   First  of  all,  then,  we  have  made  a  long  step 
in  advance  in  leaving  behind  us  the  names.  Abandon  the  names, 
and  the  ideas  that  the  old  names  embodied  will  sooner  or  later 
fade  away. 

(a)  In  the  seomd  place,  the  principle  of  territorial  divisions 
has  been  measurably  accepted.  Alexander  Duff  set  forth  his 
large-minded  views  on  the  subject,  views  which  some  missionary 
organisations  have  always  shared,  at  the  Union  Missionary  Con- 
vention held  in  New  York  City  on  the  occasion  of  Duff's  visit 
to  America  in  1854.  Speaking  of  the  assembling  of  missionaries 
in  centres  when  great  areas  were  still  unoccupied,  he  said: 

Now  why  remain  thus  crowded  together,  while  whole  regions 
are  left  entirely  destitute?  Why  not  rather  disperse?  Yes.  but 
one  win  answer,  "  My  flock  bdongi  to  sitch  a  sect,  and  yours 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  343 

to  another,**  and  each  win  insist  on  maintaining  a  separate 
service,  as  if  he  must  go  to  Heaven  only  in  his  own  way.  I  do 
hope  and  trust  that  the  day  is  coming  when  this  divine  spirit— 
the  true  cathohc  spirit— the  all-embracing  spirit  of  Chri9>---shall 
nse  up  m  the  mi^t  of  us— when  evangelical  Episcopalians,  or 
l^bytenans,  or  Baptists,  or  CongregationaU.sts,  or  Methodists, 
will  say  to  each  other:  "  For  my  part,  if  the  Gospel  is  preached. 
I  do  not  care  whether  it  be  conveyed  through  an  Episcopalian 
n';^;.''"  *  Congregational  tube,  oVany 

other.  What  a  blessed  spectacle  would  it  be  to  see  true  preach- 
ewof  the  Gospel  standing  up  together  and  saying  to  each  other: 

ITiere  is  room  for  us  all.  If  you  remain  here,  then  I  shall 
go  hence  or  I  will  remain  and  let  you  go.  There  is  space  enousli 
and  work  enough  for  all;  let  us  not  be  coming  into  collision  and 
apparent  contention.  ..."  The  foreign  missionary  field  is  of 
such  vast  extait  that  there  is  room  for  all,  without  encroaching 
on  each  others  labours;  and  when  we  find  any  region  of  tte 
heathen  field  preoccupied,  we  should  go  elsewhere  m  search  of 
labour  as  .there  is  plenty  of  vacant  territory.  If,  for  a  moment. 
I  could  wield  the  wand  of  despotic  power  for  a  good  purpose 
I  would  go  to  the  heathen  field,  and  there  chalk  out  a  separat^ 
district  for  every  evangelical  denomination.   I  would  say  to  the 

fiH  p*^°K^*°"-^°  Episcopalian,  take  this  field; 

«J  1    tf^i*'"*?'  ^^"^  "  J  SO  and  convert  them 

and  then  baptise  them  aU  in  whatever  way  you  deem  best 

Among  tfie  resdutions  adopted  at  this  Convention,  embody- 
ing the  recommendations  of  Dr.  Dtiff,  was  one  ^iproviag  of  fU» 
principle  of  territorial  divisran: 

Rtsolved,  That  considering  the  vast  extent  of  the  yet  un- 
evangdised  world  of  heathenism,  and  the  limited  means  of  evan- 
gelisation at  the  disposal  of  the  existing  evangelical  Churches  or 
Societies,  it  would  be  ver  -  desirable  that,  with  the  exception  of 
great  centres,  such  a;.  .  .e  capitals  of  powerful  kingdoms,  ?n 
efficient  preoccupancy  of  any  particular  portion  of  the  heathen 
field  by  any  evangelical  Church  or  Society,  should  be  resDccltd 
by  others  and  left  in  their  undisturbed  possession. 

If  all  the  foreign  mis  ionaries  on  the  fidd  in  1900  had  bcm 
distributed  evenly  among  the  peoples,  there  would  have  been, 
cottnttng  all  men  and  women,  one  to  each  6o/x)a  There  was 


J44  C»I8TIAIf mr  AND  TK  NATI01« 

ordained  naa  to  «ch  «M»a  is  no  warrant  in  sach 

fMcts  for  overlapping  and  duplication  There 

"""^  "       ^"  co„scie„rtoTce^:t^ 

flicaa  Btihopt  la  Indm  m  their  coalereiiee  in  1900  resolved: 

(a)  In  view  of  vliffic  iltics  which  havi.  ari»«         *  , 

P-n  or  Indian,  whatever  Sty  X  t  h^f^t  A^'!"^:'  ^"^ 
a^of  all  Chrutiui  congregatKMs  to  be  ceMMS  ol  mja^ 

ia  the  ftrtwe  termonal  ^grcc- 

^er  bodies  have  felt  constrained  to  t.  e  a  simihr 
!J?T„d  !^  •«  hew  with  open^mdedness.  ho  .  - 

ever,  and  are  acted  upon  with  re]uc*3nce,  and  those  whi  held 
thetn.  as  well  as  those  who  hold  u  .  h  Alexan der^ff^itlJJ 
^  hq^  time  when  they  will  be  not  .uandoned  but  ranrended 
Ln  rsaid^a^  th'  con,preh«K«^  Onueh;  «kI  me^^S  1 
S?»   u    I      *  P"""P'«      territorial  resoona- 

one,  of  which  I  shall  speak  presently 

Is^rH"""',-'"  .  dinar  , 

WKl  the  acts  of  disc.p  me  of  other  Christian  organisations  . 
^at  f  .„  any  one  territory  mm  are  baptised,  they  are  baptised 
forthe  territory  of  other  Churches  als.  and  if  in 
tmrtory  acts  of  discipline  lie  upon  agents  .f  the  native  C  T 
the  tvhdity  of  those  acts  is  acknowledged  in  other  Christi  ' 
organisations  whether  adjacent  or  far 

(4)  In  the  fourth  place,  we  have  reached  on  mi"— 

W  ^  tht  ft«ipi  field.   It  wa,  in  «s  inception  a  r^t 


KmSlONS  AMD  UNITY  345 

appw    .  prayer  for  thr  pouring  out  of  God's  .p^t  ttpoo  the 

unevangehsed  world.  ^ni  "d  prayer  moven,^  fr^ that 

day  haipe  Hftta%  bee  r.  ated  in  one  way  or  another  to  the 
foreign  misswn  field  Appeal  after  appeal  has  gone  out  within 
the  last  ten  years  on  th  mission  field  to  missionaries  of  every 
naine  to  unite  inemselve^  in  . ommon  supplication.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  there  ,s  any  one  obj^  Mn  '  .  orld  for  which  as  large 
a   olume    t  pra  ,  -  is  nsing    ow    11  over  the  natioiu  as  for 

'"t'^^'lom  in  its  representat  on 
of  Chnsttothenor  -Chri.  Wo^  A  noble  illustrati.  of 
this  unity  prayer,  typicai  mar  was  the  caH  sent  out  in 
l90ibyB,s    n  Fossa.      ■         ^       ,  of  t     Anglican  Church 

ti^i^m  isy  .    eferenc    to  the  conference 
^  Presbyterian  and  i_.)iscopal  Churches 
sider  what  could  be  done  in  view 
ctchedness  of  the  unhappy  divisioas  of 
was  their  outline  of  subjects: 


fn  Japan,  whijii  the 
01  "  le  din*' rarinber^ 
in  -roth   d.  "    i  1900 
of     €  sin  i  anrf 
the  one  C  ?rc:  ' 


wilfulness,  prejudice,  worldliness,  evil 

r  our  predecessors  whkh  may  have  xted 

ition  of  Chriatendom  so  different  frac  -srt 
rayed. 

lan     and  enlightenment  of  our  own 
le  undoing  of  this  great  evil— for  the  grac 

sincerity,  wiworidlinesi,  self-controf  ana 


Penj  nee  f  ;r  , 
temper  ourselve 
to  bfi  about  a  o 
for  m    h  otir  lx>r 

Pnx^r  ff  -  ^ 

lay  help 
of  visdom, 
open  mind, 

compete  sui  .r  ^on  of  our  self-will  to The^  will"  of  G^". 
i?  hr';s"t    .us.  *  ^  mind^ich 

™    '  removal  of  obstades-in  the  character  of  pro- 

'^l^  o"*PO"ri*«  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  His 

diviSS''«&.^'''  *^^^°''1"«         °f  «i«  in  regard  to  our 


1. 

01 

'ei 


'til 


346        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

One  may  see  in  this  gathering  votume  of  prayer  a  ground 
of  hope  for  the  removal  of  the  most  massive  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  the  onion  of  Christendom,  I  mean  the  errant  conscientious- 
ness of  Christian  people.  It  h»8  been  the  ewe  from  the  begin- 
nmg  that  the  greatest  evils  have  succeeded  in  rooting  themselves 
m  the  consciences  of  men.  "  The  day  will  come."  our  Lord  told 
His  disaples.  "  when  those  who  kill  you  wUl  think  that  they  do 
service  unto  God."  It  was  that  very  conviction  that  would  make 
them  so  merciless  and  implacable.    It  has  ever  been  so.  Men 
transfer  to  their  own  fallible  consciences  the  absolute  authority 
of  the  divme  standard  which  they  have  misread.  We  hide  behind 
what  we  call  our  conscientiousness  of  principle  as  though  that 
wrre  an  adequate  reason  for  delaying  the  day  of  the  unity  of  the 
Urarch.    A  pnndple  is  not  necessarily  sound  because  it  is 
conscientious.   It  is  dangerous,  but  not  necessarily  sound  The 
very  thing  that  we  stand  most  in  need  of  tOKlay  is  such  a 
searching  of  the  eyes  of  God  upon  our  inner  life  as  will  reveal 
to  us  the  moral  colour  blindness,  the  obliquity  of  vision,  the 
distortion  of  judgment,  and  the  misconception  of  His  spirit  in 
mr  own  hearts,  which  stand  most  in  the  way  of  the  unity  of 
body  m  the  life  of  our  Lord.   And  we  shall  never  have 
ttiat  exposure,  that  revelation  of  our  own  misguided  conscien- 
toousness  until  we  come  in  prayer,  in  great  humility  and  self- 
distrust  to  the  fear  that  where  we  think  we  stand  we  may 
have  fallen  worst,  in  His  sight  whose  eyes  search  us  and  dis- 
cern the  truth. 

(5)  In  the  fifth  place,  both  at  home  and  on  many  mission 

Tuh  ?"    1  '"^'■^         representative,  have  been  estab- 

lished for  the  prosecution  of  coK)perative  woric  or  for  the 
nourishment  of  fraternity  or  for  the  adjustment  of  diAcuHics. 

5  "^^'.'y  y**"       officers  and  members 

Of  Oie  foreign  mission  organisations  have  been  meeting  an- 
nually for  conference,  and  have  now  established  in  addition  a 
caitral  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  to  act  in  matters 
Of  common  interest,  and  to  which  auy  question  of  divergent 
i^TtT^'l  w  Ctoference  of  Missionariw  in 

India,  held  at  Madnt  fawvotrttoietap,  withthaeon- 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  347 

wnt  of  the  home  boards,  a  central  Court  of  Arbitration  and 
Appeal  with  seven  provincial  courts,  and  appointed  represent- 
atives  of  for^  different  missionary  societies  00  the  committw 
o  organise  the  court.  It  proposed  the  scheme  in  the  hope  as 
.t  said,  that  it  would  «  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  evils  of  nvi^ 
and  competition,  guard  against  the  sin  of  wasting  our  Lord's 
money,  give  increased  efficiency  to  existing  agencies,  spread 
^.t?"'!'iT  '^^J"*^  ^«  ^^Sions  beyond,  and  demo,; 

tv  "    T      .^f^  ^  t""*^  ^»  Chris- 
tianity.    Twen  y-five  of  the  societies  concurred  at  once,  ap- 

S^rL  hI"  i!"'  ?!  •^""'■'^  ^^""^  constituted 
tT.*  ^  .   ?  "^r*^^  °^  ^^''^'''^  "P°°  referred  to 

^r^'oni;  *  °^  '"'"""^  information  regarding  unoccupied 
fields  and  of  suggesting  what  may  be  done  to  provide  for  them. 
At  the  beginmng  of  the  work  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  a  divi- 

'"^  Evangelical  Union 
^''^  'organised,  whose  object  was 
stated  to  be    to  unite  aU  the  evangelical  forces  in  the  Riilippine 
Islands  for  the  purpose  of  securing  comity  and  effectiveness  in 
their  missionary  operations."   The  Tokyo  Conference  of  Wb- 
sionanes  m  Japan  in  1900  created  "The  Standing  Committee 
of  Co-operating  Christian  Missions  in  Japan."  with  the  function 
of  uniting  the  missions  in  coH)perative  efforts  and  "with  a 
view,   as  Its  constitution  stated,  "to  the  prevention  of  mif 
understandings  and  the  promotion  of  harmony  of  spirit  and 
umformi^  of  method."  A  year  before,  the  missionary  agencies 
working  m  Western  China,  including  American  Metho«sts  and 
Baptists  Canadian  Methodists.  English  Congregationalists,  An- 
ghcans.  Friends,  and  the  China  Inland  Mission  had  set  up  an 
Advisory  Board  of  Referoiee  and  QH)pef»tion.  and  approved 
of  general  principles  of  policy,  including  a  divisfen  of  the  field, 
with  the  object  of  promoting  "such  a  spirit  of  harmony 
~fPe«tion  as  shall  tend  to  the  speedier  and  more 
cowplele  occupation  of  the  whole  wide  field  by  the  mes- 
sengers of  the  Gospel,"  and  none  denied  this  title  to  any 
of  the  others.    I  will  speak  of  but  one  other  such  organise- 
noo.  Mr.  Findlay  described  it  some  years  ago  in  an  addresa 


348        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

to  tl^  National  CouncU  of  Free  Churdiet  at  Ordiff  !n 

«.»JISiif"£i°''*''***  co-operation  which  these  great  comfabed 
entwpnses,  and  many  smaller  ones,  have  for  years  exhibitedaS 
encouraged  .n  South  India,  and  which  also  l4  £JS^fSe?ed  "n 
local  councils  and  conferences,  issued  four  years  a^  in  the 
formation  of  a  South  Indian  Missionary  AssodSon.^ich  now 
Si  fo^Tl!^T*T*'^t  °^  "^'^^^^^  ProtesU  missS 
SallJ^  ?hoS^?  ^"*^'^T-  J^^.  °^       Association  are 

parallel  to  those  of  your  National  Counc  1,  though  its  constituency 

coSti7'of"-  «".t«=on«"ittee  which  draffed  its  Zs t  tu^^^^^ 
consisted  of  an  American  Congregationalist.  an  English  Hieh 
SSrtel^**  5"!"^^  Methodist.  Its  membershfp  includes 
State  Churchmen  and  Free  Churchmen.  Lutherans  of  Germany 
Switzerland.  Denmark.  Sweden,  and  America;  Scotch  and /K 
«^n„^/i?^^*p?*"''  Episcopalians,  Baptist^  Methodists  Con^- 
S^^'  ^^T^  ^vT^ited  to  practise  frateSSl 

wjerrourse,  to  take  common  counsel  and  to  undertake  com^ 
This  Association  arranges  conferences,  focuses  niissioii. 
17a  ?Er«"K.*"''  ^^P'-^^^s"     on  occasion,  to  the  GoyeramS 

ra^De  mentioned  a  directory  of  inst  tutions  available  for  thtt 
cojmnw,  sennce.  a  board  of  vernacular  examinati^s  for  mSriS? 
aries.  and  a  representative  committee,  which  is  preparing  a^nl 
mon  hytnn-book  for  the  whole  Tamil  Church.  ESfa^ieHf 

to  South  India  are  found  m  this  Association-  and  it  mav  h* 
doubted  whether  there  has  ever  before  been  w&4^ 
ised  association  for  active  service  of  OrisS^SlSl  ^ 
n«u,y  varieties  of  nationaUty.  tho^hi  Sd  SMtaTflSj^ 


And  this  co-operation  has  not  been  left  to  such  fmeral  eom- 

^oinaoua  work,  m  Chma,  the  medical  missionaries  of  all 
^.d«H^  •"od.tion,  which  pursue,  in- 

vesugations,  issues  a  journal,  and  is  ptdtSihinff  madical  text- 

^«Sr^T  V***^  purposes,  and  holding  a  tri- 

ennial  meeting  for  common  conference.  CommoR  hysm-tnokt 
•re  in  use  m  firisU.  Japu,  South  India,  uid  s^..^^^ 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  ^ 

^'J!SiJj^^'  '""^^y  institutions,  three  of 

tbem  tMokgtad  schools,  where  different  denominations,  repre- 
l^^i  d'ffe^ent  Pohties  and  creeds,  have  united  themselv^  to 
support  and  conduct  such  institutions  as  union  organisations. 

their  ^li"'  missionaries  and 

their  musioiw  hM  issued  tn  some  fields,  and  notably  in  China, 
the  greatest  of  all.  ,n  a  national  federation  with  a  uitional  counl 

and  the  work  of  this  federation  is  to  be  "  (a)  To  encounS 
everythmg  that  will  demonstrate  the  existing  essential  JS^"^? 
Christians.   To  watch  for  opportunities  of  united  prayer  and 

TSliri'T'ril*^'*"/'^"'""***^^"  °^  different  bodies 
Of  ChrliliMis  m  Chma;  and  as  opportunity  offers,  to  initiate 

th"*  representative  meetings  for  the  fnrthenuice  of 

tiie  Ideal  of  one  Christian  Church  for  aina.    (b)  To  devise 

mifc.'*?^?**  "^^^'^^  "^^"^  can  be  worked 
most  effiaentiy.  and  with  the  greatest  economy  in  men  and 
time  and  money,    (c)  To  promote  union  in  educational  work. 

.  L^^Llu"'"^'?*"*"'  °^  consideration  of  all  questions 
•s  to  how  tte  varioas  f>hases  of  Christian  work  can  be  carried 
on  most  efficiently.  e.g.,  translation  and  literary  work,  sodal 
worMnedical  work,  evangelistic  work.  etc.  (c)  And  in  general, 
to  oideavonr  to  secure  harmonious,  co-operant,  and  mora  ef- 
fective work  throaghoat  tlw  whole  Empir*." 

(7)  But  the  ideal  of  foreign  fnissioiis  is  not  r«aHsed  hr 
a  f^ration  of  separate  agencies.  It  contemplates  a  united 
tnureii,  not  a  compact  of  separate  units,  but  one  corporate  and 
m»nifested  life.  The  whole  body  of  misik»erlte  in  Japan  in 
Ine  Conference  in  1900.  set  fortii  this  ideal:  "This  Conference 
J!i  "  ^  Tokyo,  proclaim,  its 

belief  that  an  tWie  #!»  irt  o<ie  with  Chrirt  by  faitii  are  one 
body;  and  r  »IIs  upon  all  those  who  love  the  LoM  Jtm  ind 
H»  Chui  !  sincerity  and  truth,  to  pray  and  to  labour  for 
me  fifll  re  ..atkM  of  such  a  corporate  oneness  as  the  Master 
Himself  prayed  for  on  that  n%ht  in  wMeh  He  was  betrayed." 

And  they  had  in  mind  in  this,  their  representatives  have  told 
us,  not  simply  a  :treQ|UieiiiQf  of  the  bonds  "thit  bind 


350        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

individual  Lolievers;  but  a  corporate  oneness,  a  oneness  of  the 
C  mrches  as  Churches  that  shall  be  manifest  to  all  the  world." 

n.riJ^nilJ''**  *  "i^^  f**'^  according  to  the  mind  of 

Chnst  needs  no  other  proof  than  His  own  prayer  in  the  uroer 
room;  and  His  own  reason  therein  given  is  one  that  apprab 
with  constraining  persuasiveness  to  all  who  are  in  sympathy  with 

£2  ?1,5"  Yr'**  This  has  always 

been  true;  but  to-day  the  old  truth  is  proclaiming  itself  with 
peculiar  msistence.  The  divisions  of  Christendom  are  seen  wi£ 
a  new  clearness  to  be  a  stone  of  stumbling;  and  many  Christian 
hps  are  repeatmg  the  prayer  of  the  Master  as  it  has  not  been 

S^!?ml'Th^*"u*'u  "  *hom  this  concerns, 

2n^«*  Ttf  who  have  come  to  this  land  for  the  evangelisa- 
toon  of  the  nation,-"  that  it  may  know  that  Thou  didst  send 
Me  For  it  may  be  t.rit  the  pathway  to  the  coasummatioii  of 
tiiat  purpose  is  to  be  found  in  obedience  to  the  words,  that  tbev 
flMyaU  be  one  that  the  world  may  believe.  ^ 
f«  Jr!  'P  the  way  of  corporate  oneness,  in  whichever 

:?T  Jr  '=°"t£|"Plated,  are  manifold.  There  are  old  wounds 
still  rankling.  There  are  prejudices  that  have  transformed  them- 
selves into  pnnciples.  The  all  but  resistless  forces  of  heredity 
a'^?,^^^^^^^  ^"^yf^  «n  opposition.  Pride  and  fear  and 
doubt  and  distrust  are  all  clamant.  There  are  differences  of  edu- 
cation,  of  sentiment,  of  conviction,  that  insist  upon  recognition 
and  consideration.  The  yoke  must  needs  be  w^  ofTmeek 
and  lowly  spirit  Bui  with  God  all  things  are  possible.  This 
18  tiie  thought  of  the  letter;  it  is  a  call  to  united  prayer  Hand 
in  hand  with  prayer  will  go  effort;  and  by  taking  tlwuriit.  bv 
earnest  endeavour,  by  patience,  by  charity,  by  rourafe.  by  a 

The  «wne  noble  ideal  and  longing  have  filled  the  minds 
•ad  Imrt*  of  die  missionaries  in  China.  In  the  Centenary 
CoBleraice  thejr  dtdwed: 

That  in  planting  the  Church  of  Christ  on  Chinese  soil,  we  desire 
only  to  plant  one  Church  under  the  sole  control  of  the  Lord 
Tesus  Chnst  governed  by  the  Word  of  the  Living  God.  and  led 
by  His  guiding  Spirit.    While  freely 

communicatiiur  to  Uui 
Church  the  knowledge  of  Truth,  and  the  rich  historicikl  nperiowt 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


I5t 


to  which  older  Churches  have  attained,  we  fully  recomise  the 
hberty  m  Christ  of  Ae  Churches  in  China  planted^T^s  of 
rl"°"^  Churches  which  we  represent,  in  so  far  as 
SnE  TtSS  r*"'  "^^^^rity  of  Christian  character  and  ex- 
penence,  fitted  to  exercise  it;  and  we  desire  to  commit  them 
m  faith  and  hope  to  the  continued  safe-keeping  of  their  Lord, 
when  the  time  shaU  arrive,  which  we  eagedy  antidprte.  w& 
they  shall  pass  beyond  our  guidance  and  control 

That  m  this  view  we  cordially  undertake  to  submit  very 
respec  fully  to  the  home  Churches  which  have  sent  us  to  cS 
the  following  recommendation.  v.miu^ 

(a)  That  they  should  sanction  the  recognition  by  their  mis- 

toorSfnifi       "^f*  ^""^'^^^     China  plant^ed  S  them 

^th  ^nTw  dance  with  their  own  views  of 

truth  and  duty,  suitable  arrangements  being  made  for  the  due 
ZlTrT^'T     the  missionaries  on  their  g^vemi^  todiw  uJSl 
these  Churches  shall  be  m  a  position  to  assume  tli1i3lrS>oS£ 
°4,self.support  and  self-government. 

ri^UfL     -  .^^V^  ^K"'**.  ^ro™  claiming  any  permanent 

right  of  spiritual  or  administrative  control  over  theJe  ChSnSi 

No  general  conference  of  missionaries  in  India  has  as  yet 
embraced  and  uttered  this  ideal  of  one  national  Church,  but 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  India, 
Itself  a  umon  of  aU  the  Presbyterian  bodies  but  one.  appointed 
at  Its  meeting  in  1907  a  committee  of  twenty  Indians  and  two 
missionaries  to  enter  into  correspondence  with  other  mission- 
aries and  Churches  with  a  view  to  a  larger  than  a  mere  Pres- 
byterian  union,  and  it  pref»»d  it.  resolutiens  with  a  recogni- 
tion of  the  advantages  that  would  accrue  to  the  caus7of 
Christ  m  India  by  a  realisation  of  Christ's  prayer  that  all  may 
be  one^  jnd  by  the  declarations  that  "our  aim  is  to  secure 
a  united  fadigenous  Church  of  Indian  Christians,  rather  than 

^ith  its  peculiarly  Western  char- 
Jteristt^,  and  'that  the  Indian  brethren,  as  far  as  possible, 
should  be  responsible  for  ito  deyelopment.  that  the  future  Chuitrh 

a-TSLT"'  which  these  utterances  from 

tte  tbfM  grMtMt  miarioii  tends  propoM  have  abcady  begun. 


3Sa        CHRISlTANITy  AND  THE  NATIONS 

The  dimiiution  of  denominational  lines  is  now  taking  place 
In  at  least  nine  cases  they  have  been  already  eliminated  There 
have  been  three  great  eliminations  in  Japan.    The  Episcowd 
Churehes  of  Great  Britain  and  America  are  now  one  in  Japan! 
All  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  bodies  have  been  one  in  Jawn 
for  twenty-five  years.   All  the  Methodist  bodies  were  made^ 
ganically  one  in  Japan  a  year  or  two  ago.    There  is  scarcely 
a  mission  field  where  there  have  not  been  instances  of  this  or- 
ganic melting  together  of  different  denominations.    In  every 
countnr    where   the   Northern    and    Southern  Presbyterian 
Churches  of  America  are  working,  outside  of  the  United  States 
hey  are  worldng  as  one  oixanic  Church.    In  the  Christian 
land  of  America  they  are  two.  In  every  heathen  land  they  are 
one.  In  India,  three  or  four  years  ago  all  but  one  of  the  Presby- 
terian and  Reformed  Churches  and  the  Calvinistic  Methodists 
came  together  in  one  Church  of  Christ  for  India,  and  only  this 
last  year  the  southern  section  of  that  Church  separated  from  the 
rest  with  good-will  and  approval,  in  order  to  u     •  with  the 
English  and  American  Congregationalists  of  South  India  and 
make  a  larger  union  numerically,  a  larger  union  in  the  inclusion 
01  different  types  of  denominations,  although  for  a  little  while 
it  made  a  smaller  union  geographically.   But  it  was  done  as  a 
step  to  the  larger  union  .yet  to  be.  Organic  unity  is  not  a  mere 
p~7ct  ^  «  •««  ™  1«*<ly  "  -com. 

ruTl-  ^^''.f^^^ionary  movement  in  these  attainments  in 
at  hom^        "  '^'^  '  powerful  influence  upon  the  Church 

onii'^ii"  f^^"^^        ^"'■•^^  *'^<=  possibility  of 

union,  not  only  of  coH»peration  in  work  or  of  federation  of 
separate  Christian  bodies,  but  of  «:tual  unten.  There  n^ 
wanting  those  both  at  home  and  on  the  foreign  field  who  believe 

Bapttst  Mimonary  RevUw  of  India,  for  April,  1907.  maintains 
Ais  view:  "  We  do  not  believe."  it  says.  "  that  tlier;  wiU  mJ 
i^n^Uil^  th>ng  as  'The  Church  of  India.'  History  isV^ 
going  to  be  reversed  in  India.  There  have  been,  are  now.  «^ 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  333 

always  wiU  be,  denominations."  But  the  same  article  was  ad- 
"""f^**;  ""P''^«d«^"t«^d  union  of  Baptists.  If  it  is  possible 
and  r^t  for  Riptists  to  surrender  their  individualism  and  in- 
depCTidency  m  favoor  of  denonmtttioiial  union,  may  it  not  be 
possible  and  nght  for  all  Chrirtians  to  act  on  the  ^.me  com! 
prehending  pnnciple  and  become  one  with  a  unity  which  will 
comprehend  and  preserve  their  freedom?  Our  denominations 
d,d  not  always  exist.  What  right  have  we  to  assume  that  the 
sectarian  phenomena  of  the  last  three  or  four  centuries  are  to 
be  the  permanent  characteristics  of  Christendom,  and  are  of 
supenor  vabdrty  to  the  order  of  the  New  Testament,  and  th^ 
any  hope  of  nsmg  above  them  into  the  unity  for  which  our 

it°'^iS'^  attainments  already  made 

in  union  on  the  foreign  mission  field  should  teach  us  wisdom. 
We  are  uniting  there.  What  we  c«.  do  there,  we  can  do  here. 

(2)  ihe  missionary  movement  is  teaching  us  also  the  duty 
of  union.  The  missionaries  have  realised  that  they  ought  to 
be  one.  For  sunilar  reasons  and  for  additional  reasons  we  ourfit 
to  be  one  at  home,  and  we  ought  to  be  one  for  the  sakTof 
the  effect  of  such  unity  at  home  on  the  growth  of  unity  abroad. 
It  is  frcm  home  that  unity  should  pass  out  over  the  worid  as 
one  of  the  marks  of  the  tturch.  In  the  discussion  of  Christian 
union  at  the  Tokyo  Conference  one  of  the  missionaries  aM 

?Jlir  *  T*  rr'?  '^"^  Conference  was  ad- 

dressed.  If  to  the  Japanese  Churches,"  said  he.  "  thev  will 
say  to  us.  '  Why  are  you  not  united  among  yourselves?  It 
IS  your  divisions  that  keep  us  separated.'"  Happily,  our  divi- 
sjons  at  home  have  not  held  the  misdonaries  apart,  although 
there  a«  those  among  them  who  do  not  feel  free  to  ^rticipate 
in  the  great  uniting  movements  of  the  time  bwause  £ir 
Churches  at  home  still  hold  aloof.  "They  must  take  the  step 
before  we  am  "  they  say.  History  is  developing  the  contra^ 
course,  but  it  is  doing  so  without  relievmg  the  tome  ChurS2 
Of  their  duty  to  participate  in  a  movement  essential  to  the  ful- 
filment of  the  task  of  Christianity  in  the  world,  to  bring  the 
boat  to  CMh  fflui  and  each  nation,  and  to  unify  man- 


>  • 


3S4        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

the  oL.^  movement  is  not  only  showing 

^i?^  ^  P0Mfl»l.ty  and  duty  of  union,  it  is  also  revealing 
to  ,t  the  method     a)  It  has  shown  «.  the  uniting  power^ 

on«ess.  of  a.m  of  all  engaged  in  that  task  press  the  workers 
W^''  "»>cq«intance  and  their  dissonant  tra 

ditions.   When  men  are  not  united  in  their  work,  they  can  easily 

"'^^"'^^  ^''•"^^  into  fundamenS 
worid^th '  J**y       «««king  the  evangelisation  of  « 

cover 'ti.:  ?h"'"*'^  ««^a«ert  their  domma.;c?«.d  men  di^ 

^  «  H  1  L*''  '^u"^'  ^""^  ^'^'^'""^  «t  once  a. 
good  as  dead  because  they  are  forgotten.   Dr.  Swift,  the  great 

sTon'^^rt^'A^  foundation  o,  ^he  foreign  missiona^.  oS- 
or  Liu  ^""'""^1  Presbyterian  Church,  understood  tW. 
^aple  and  expressed  .t  in  one  of  the  first  reports  of  the 

*°       ''^^''''y  abandomnent  by  the  Church 
LnH^f  "'P^^iW^  .-  •  missiiar^  agency. 

u    „  ,       ^'^^  commotions  which  now  agitate  the  Church  " 

thf  hJl '  'r?"  Churches  U,und  t^grjfby 

the  hallowed  t,es  of  one  hannonioas  and  Uf«.«»plring  effort  Z 
evangdise  the  world,  those  waves  whose  rockinjno!  tiZ^ 
hjer  destruction  would  scarcely  have  left  the  trace  of  thel  S 

Zr  TU  '  I  ■  T^°^  ^''^'^  '"^^  «^annot  last  for- 
T^u     I  ^P'"*  °^  glory  and  i  ,  power  to 

rl^"^'''  ""^  '^'^  ^P'"*  «>"cord  to  tie^bts^ 

Common  amis  u,d  honest  effort  to  realise  those  aims  have  Sc 
us  one  abroad.    They  can  make  us  one  at  home.   Mo«  ft^ 

W.  fin.^  Jar*"'''  °'  "«"d"^on  said  " 

his  final  address  as  Moderator  of  the  United  Free  Church  As 
sembly  .„  1909:  "  Fathers  and  brethren,  may  I  so  far  alTudc  4 
^e  great  subject  of  Church  Union  as  to  say  that  ^  vS 

Of  our  spiritual  l^fe  by  active  service.  If  it  is  to  come  a«  « 
blessmg-which  God  grant  it  may  speedilyUt  ^  ^  I 

tX  1  f:L"'°  ''"^"J  ^--^^remTdettre  fo^ 

fuUer  and  freer  service;  from  a  pressing  need  of  devdo|iii« 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  333 

a  free  and  fruitful  Ufe  in  direct  obedience  to  the  w'll  of  Christ 
Hmdrances  which  thw«t  «ich  spiritual  aspirati^T  iiS  w^m^ 

that  opposes  .tself  to  the  doing  of  the  will  of  ChSst"  ^ 

^^"°-hip  in  spite  of 
nfth!T      ^T"      ^''^'^^  the  difference  by  purifying  it 

8^  ateLf  tj^  .t  '"K  ^""^  ""^''^  ^"''We  them  to 

S  ^d/r  ft:^ '  '""^^^-t-  better  the 

aS  tL:^f  thf wor^f  trrrtj^mr^^ 

her''4rar,1,£^^^^^^  ^^-P  of  men  say. 

to  the  Bible;  anotheTaSrence'^r^^^e^*^!?^^^ 

perhaps  to  two-thirds  of  it;  another  zcc^^ST^  T^u\'°l 

and  pract  ce  of  the  first  six  cm^^^I'.  ™ 

the  Refornwtion  and  so  li^rt;  principles  of 

according  to  Ss  tSinuZ  T'  *       ^°"P  reaching  its  dedsioa 

prejuT?    If  as^aThef'TvJS  '"teTretation  of  histoiTS; 

S:hiol  of  thoVht  whhin  JSlh"?^".!? '  ..'"y.  ^""^  ^hn^h  or 

to  the  Christia?  ,J?of  of  thS?  SuiS  1 

developed  by  her  iysteiS  as  by  no  J^f  'P'"* 

its  individual  dSx^sition    R.?t  thi  nghteousness  and 

Jesus  Chris,  o?  hTnS'°;„d  fhi  st*  aVe?"^^^^^^^^  ^7fZ 
Ijness.  IS  found  somewhere  in  each  anH  aif  oflu  ^^l**"**'*"" 
thpugh  in  no  one  exXTvdy  S  n^^i^lf  ^ 

teiiv^£?eVe?S^^^^  ~ 


1 


ii 


3S6       CHRISTIANlTy  AND  THE  NATIONS 

cSrii^^L'""i  P^^liissively  struggles  to  put  on  the  mind  of 
^PrU'fhof  *  adherents  bear  those  clear  tokens  of  God's 
r£2kV*??*  be  «muiated-self-sacrifice  to  the  death  for 
^t  f^X^T^  '  *°^W-wide  love-can  be  read 
out  of  the  Church  of  the  living  God.    To  sav  that  Protest* 

a?e";?t' cSh"^?*  '''''  Jf-^^^  ^^V^^  cer1Llit2fc*SS 
S,^!  H  i  n  ^"°r.d>ng  to  a  fixed  definitioa  nay  be  true, 

but  «t  >8  Idle  folly  to  think  or  speak  or  act  as  though  they  wire 

TJ^i£*  ^"^i  '^"^  "r «  Who.  although  He  d/sijfed 
a  VMiNe  unity,  has  proved  to  those  who  are  not  too  blind  to 
»ee,  that  He  can  and  does  use  the  broken  order  which  man 
hM  chosen  m  .ts  place  As  well  m^ht  the  gardener  who  pr^he^ 

ra/i.V ^''^  experienceprom  that  its  vitality 
^JiJ  f!?  unimpaired.  IVhat  God  hath  cleansed,  thi 

call  not  thou  common.  unm 

The  logic  of  the  situation  requires  us  to  look  with  ereater 
fairness  on  the  things  of  our  bretfiren.  and  to  put  off  thf  spiS 
kLSS  birist  exhibited  only  in  the%resen«  of  S 

Hberate  wickedness  and  hardness  of  heart  The  doctrine  of 
separatism  cannot  but  be  hateful  to  God.  Out  of  the  vwyrt^ 
will  He  raise  up  children  to  Abraham,  as  histo^  SrTif 
to  4v1aln>^^^^^  descendants  lapse  into  PharisSfsm^l^fnting 
to  Phyjactenes  mscribed  with  the  pride  of  aristocrat  c  descent 
cL^^T  first  duty  all  abound  S  2 

on/  ^nij^  ^^"^  and  ecclesiastical  backbiting  and  to  be  loy3  to 
one  another  in  secret— not  to  trv  to  win  Chrictian.  ♦ill 
allegiance  that  binds  them  by  sn  Jri^  aTSr  deS?  ng  sys^s^f 
^chimftijat  we  do  «>t  sympathise  ^fth  mainirKsfwe  ha?c 
never  been  at  pams  to  understand  them.  It  is  a  poor  busineu 
P~P'*='^  t°  build  up  ouJ  S^n.  ^  S 
nI^;iJ;^;'*''/V'-  ''"PP^««  *°  the  b^^ach  in  a 

*n  i^'^u^ii^H*  l^-  *°  "^X;  to  help  thVmember  of  another 
2d  7il£,  °i       P"^"'^^*^^         ^«"^**^d  earnestness 

and  reality    I  have  had  many  a  surprise  of  late  since  I  have 
faced  vexed  questions,  with  the  determination  to  do  fil 
to  the  point  of  view  opposed  to  mine.    Ther«  w  nSi 
thin^  that  are  looked  upon  as  mutually  exclusive  iSi^^aScoVj 

fulfil  thdr  vocatlo  wh«  '^'''J. 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  357 

of'thl^JijnH  jfrL^t  I  ""P'y  P'*»*"«  the  putting  on 
fntJistX  ^inrfST  ^  "J?r  °"  the  things  of  oAer. 
ourselves,  when  we  pray,  with  those  who  are  separated  £1x^2 
by  chance  rather  than  bv  choice.  My  hope  is  Art  SSdoS 
ment  of  this  temper  wifl  lead  us  by  degrws  tona^l^HoT 
ship  culnunating  first  in  federal,  and  Sen,  as  "  state  .Su  " 
gradually  fade,  into  organic  union.    Christianity  is  stiB  verr 

looking  centuries  aheui  of  to-day.  — »  — »  • 

is  to^yuJfirL.^'JJS.-*'"  h°P5-  "  Communion 
l«  *^  °'  a  strategic  position  and  its  claim 

to  leadership,  we  must  shed,  more  than  we  have  yet  seniS 
to  do.  our  reserve,  and  play  the  part  of  foremost  companion 
Consciousness  of  the  possession  o/laige  privilege  shSdJiVe 
Tr^^'i^^l^HT!^'  °!  '^r"  commVns^urate  ^ith  our 
i-^ii  .  !  *^  t°     susceptible  to  infection 

from  dose  contact  with  conscientious  error  or  ignorance  ^ 
has  never  had  a  fair  chance  to  become  enlightened:  It  does  not 
sit  passively  on  a  throne  in  heaven  waiting  forwthtolSkS 
or  atbest  steeteh  down  a  timid  hand  from%bove.  Christ  Jesus 
the  Way  and  the  Truth  and  the  Life,  being  in  the  form  of  G^' 

mZi74  rli""^  <u  a  man.  He  humbled 

fhTif^   uV^ji'J*^*.'^'*'        '^*'  death  of 

nn  ZTnA^TT!^^'^^  notorious  sinners."^ //<m  who  knel, 
no  stn  God  made  to  be  sm  on  our  behalf.   He  lived  the  life  of  a 
Jew,  obeying  its  ordinances,  sharing  in  its  crude  worship-Oh 
wt:^?n'".^;jL"''"^'""S^»^'^»^^  Hecouidhive 
S^^^^« T  ^  '  ^'^^        sure  than 

Sf,!f!S?  I,  ^  °^  ^''^"ominational  contentions,  we 
Sf.  ^^^"^  *         ^"'""^       separatism.  Indeed, 

the  more  certain  we  are  of  our  position,  the  more  readily^ 

^""^^  j"*^**  °'  standing  ground  in 

5of  .tJSf^*  r  ♦iJ^r-Ii^  P'-otestantism.  but  rising  to  the 
tm  stature  of  atholicity  If  we  have  the  truth,  it  wUl  abide 
secure  and  win  the  day;  if  not.  hMpp,  AM  ht  to  low  ttoS 
which  appears  to  be  what  it  is  not  w  luw  mat 

u^Li^'-'^X/T.^  together  and  find  an  intellectual  bTsis  of 
agreonent  m  Mdbourne  or  Shanghai.  Actual  sharing  with  one 
another  of  our  good  things  as  far  as  conscience  permits  will  do 
more  than  anything  else  to  advance  God's  truth  and  unite  w 


J5»        CHWSTIANITy  AND  THE  NATIONS 

Ata^f  t!fi2J!2[  "-i^        o'  "ustM  fellow- 

*y.  ol  coaUma  wMkoat  luspicion,  of  brotherly  senric.  !Z 
out  sellish  ends.   It  «  the  furfb  uML  ftTt!^' 
us  the  family  name  U  „,„  "~"  «'»t  i.  wMi 

We  do  not  su,  ontftr  " 

^iti^pi^-nt-aK;  SiK'Tr^tri  r 

ologies  are  all  to  be  reconciled  at  la.f  ^^Iv  *' 
whMi  mAn  K-i        L  'ast,  not  by  a  restatemort 

wtoA  win  balance  them  afresh  and  establish  a  universalco^ 

hying  God  will  unify  them  and  supplant  them.   A»d«  i^ 
aU^urdjsagreements  as  Christians,  ''we  shTJot  ^,To 
SSTl^Z  J^l""  "^1  "r"**  '"^       ^«  air  each  ^ 

loyalty  to  the  past  in  ^iX  t^^nJ.^^^^ 
^terthan  it   Unless  the  past  has  madT^dy  for  .  iStJ? 
S^T'  u  *       P^^*-   O^ly  those  things  a^e^ 

^  better  thi«g.  to  c«ne  after  thJS  th^ 

men  are  disloyal  to  the  past,  not  who  believe  that  it 
prq^ration  for  greater  things.  b«t  who  believe  that  aJMe  ^ 

ttrS  r  r     '^"^  The  worst  disloy^irS 

he  past  ,s  to  mistake  it  for  the  future.  Very  great  a^  So3o« 
^st  has  been,  but  the  past  will  hav?fSS  to  tet^Tt, 

ine  win  Of  Ood  if  it  baids  men  forever  in  the  chains  of  it. 
institutional  fonns.  if  it  has  not  made  them  r^.^^  ^ 
and  completer  things  and  led  them  on  to  ,uch  „  SSt 


MKSIONi  AMD  UNTIY.  359 

VBnmM,  wc  mittt  beUere,  longed  for  whSe  He  was  here.  mA 
waits  for  now  where  He  is  gone. 

(d)  And  fourthly,  the  missionary  movement  is  guiding  us 
toward  union  at  home  by  the  principle  of  nationalism.  Its  ideal 
on  the  mission  fidd  i.  the  creatioa  of  indigenous  national 
Churches,  deadened  by  no  throttling  laws  of  uniformtty  fnc 
and  vaned  as  the  sp  -  i  of  man,  but  still  unified,  corporate, 
•annated  by  one  organic  life.  fulfilUng  one  great  mission,  and 
inspiring  and  answering  the  national  Ufe  Md  desthiy  of  the 
people.    If  that  is  the  right  ideal  for  Japan  or  India,  it  is  the 
right  Ideal  for  Scotiand  or  tht  United  States.    It  is  the  ideal 
towMd  wfaKh  the  people  of  Onada  ane  working,  and  which  tiiey 
seem  not  'inlikely  to  realise  in  our  own  day.    The  wy  ideal 
of  missions  involves  union  and  suggests  the  road  to  us  at  home 
It  IS  by  this  principle  of  nationalism  that  we  may  hope  at 
last  to  meet  the  greatest  of  aU  proUew  hi  the  way  of  C^Stim 
union  at  home  and  the  yet  unsolved  problem  of  mission  comity 
•^oad-the  problem,  at  which  I  hinted  in  the  earUer  part  of 
this  lecture,  of  ISk  Chnrch  of  Rome.   That  Church  has  either 
ignor.  -1  or  spumed  every  effou  at  "cnowship  in  pn^er  or  co- 
operauaain  work  or  aspiration  af  .    -w-  in  the  body  of  Christ, 
ine  Htsbop  of  Lahore  in  1894  de-arr    vhat  he  had  found  to  be 
ber  iimuwhie  attiliide  hi  In^:  ««««  »  ue 

ft.,/!**?""'  *  ^''^^  experience  of  North  India  and  Bui-r^. 
that  I  have  never  met  with  a  direct  and  organised  attempt  to 

^  ^  "     ^^^y  had 

SSJ^SL.*''         °'  '^'^^        Instances  of  such 

i«*e™tion  on  the  part  of  the  Churra  o.  Rome  :  uxy  be  found 

fn  ?^  XT  J^*''*?^'".  the  Chols  at  C  ota  Nagpur. 

S.„ii  J^*  i?**2fi°*  ^  Cbufch  Missionary  Society  in 
Bengal,  and  in  the  Missions  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
Of  the  Gospel  to  the  south  of  Calcutta.  No  nodus  vSmM  fe 
possible  as  between  herself  and  other  communion,. 

She  has  refused  to  take  part  in  missionary  conferences  or  to 
^*!S!Z^  ^'^^'^  misskmaries,  and  for  her,  principles 
of  aMMOMiy  ninitj  do  aot  takL  Ami  her  principle  of  unity 


36o       CHRISTIANiry  AND  THE  NATIONS 

T^Ll    L  a  .    'I'"  ^^"^  Catholic  Bishop, 

in  aigland  asked  for  the  judgment  of  the  Inquisition  at  S 
on  the  question  of  the  memberaWp  of  Roman  aS<^ 
Assoc.at.on  for  the  Promotion  T  the  Unity  of  ^JS^ 

tn«  r^ed  for  the  Inquisition  with  regard  to  the  assoSon : 

divilJXSltn^^^J^^^^^^^^^^  -erth-ws  the 

idea  that  the  true  Church  of  fLs  Snl    ^^'^f''^**  ^ 

faith  and  the  peace  of  tSt  rl?J.  u  ^  ^  brought  to  the  true 

such  Mwfa  Jled  Christian  tLftrmtoVfaB  fr^^, /"I 
unity  which,  by  a  wonderful  rift  „t  j-  • 

^iSw-^LfaoS:f^^^^ 

^.  uui,  m  gresi  scctKms  of  the  world  lilt*  fZn,,tu 
JSZfe.  SS.  %J2r  where  for  more  thM,T2 

s^aS^^i^'i:'"*^ She  w":: 

««w«L  *n«fowiiaieBtiirt«ttaderhw  control  The 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  jj, 

taiB^CM  was  aM  from  her  own  Churches  in  Europe.  The 
edacatioii  of  the  people  was  entirely  in  her  hands.  NrChurch 

,T  ^  complete  or 

lute.    What  are  the  conditions  tOKhy?  The 

H^Z^'ii^  "'^"'^  in  Chris- 

nS  fhnnH  ^  P~P>e  «re  ifliterate.  The 

pnesAood  ,s  either  ignored  or  feared  or  despised.  The  ehmdies 

JSl'  ""^^T^  '"'^'^  °°  '"^^^  ^y''  "o^'t  part 

ZT^.  ^  «:  envty.  A  priest  in  the  Argentine  told  me 
sadly  that  the  condition,  made  hii  hewt  «»e.  few.  parish  of 
130^  souls  not  eight  per  cent,  he  said,  ever  attendedThurch 

!Sf  ?  ^^'J'?  ^^l^^d  to  b«  allowed 

to  lay  aafcle  cten«l  dres.  in  order  to  avoid  insult  ar.  to  g« 

L  L^J    k"^'"  °'  the  people  h«|  ao  religiS 

and  theChurch  was  neither  educating  the  children  nor  eW' 
hrfnr  their  parents.  I  asked  him.  for  he  was  a  true  and^ 
honest  man.  and  a  Chrirtlw.  whether  be  «w  any  reason  X  Z 
Protestant  Churches  should  not  be  dealing  wiA  ^ei^Si^ 

^  aihoKc  Oiurch.  as  they  were  dealing  with  them  in  North 
Wca.  He  said  he  saw  nooe.  Hi.  chief  l«ne«t  w«8  the  ^ 
hbcaJ  connection  of  the  Roman  aurch  with  the  Govermn^ 
which  bound  asspiritual  liberties  and  prevented  it  liJS 
the  natioial  Chiireh  of  the  people's  life. 

Now.  that  has  been  the  great  historic  error  of  the  Orareh 
m^iZi  J  P^'*'*^!*^**'^"  °f  the  Church.  She  has  confused 
it   2^  I         "SS.^"  °'  nationalism,  and  hw 

P»Ple'.  Hfe  She  ha,  been  i^ 
capable  of  that  comprehension  which  would  make  room  f^ 
aU  the  wealth  of  ^h  nation's  true  life  within  it.  And  Z 
h«  hdd  a  unlver«d  poHtfcd  conception  of  the  Church.  wWch 
has  been  at  war  with  the  genius  «id  de.tby  of  the  i^rate 

^S^«nLill"Jf  development  of  those  principles  of 
Mritual  i^eedoo  «d  of  Mlttefim  idiidi  lie  within  the  mi.- 


3«»       CMBTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

controversy,  is  to  be  rVrni^ulH  '  *''°.5J?''-  ^^'"^  ground  for 
haughty  aJId  alSf  inTaS'^^T^!,*  Chm^  however 

^^do^1fr?sd?^?^^^^^ 

SSa    N^it  «  »  rl^j'l'u  *°      ^°"^*»nt  P^^sure  of  the 

of  aspiration  lo  temporal^cwer  InrfTf,  i   *  ^''nqu'shment 
The  Reformation  KmaS^n 
?ibt"¥ir  excfus^^^'oTnr^hrLt 

iiSTL^rr.;u^^^^^  o^3^l 

play  his  part  as  the  spiritua?^eadTo  Tspirituar  ^^uS^';:^ 
m  his  purpose  by  a  representative  cardinalate  It  S'l^S? 
phettc  gift  to  forecast  the  final  effect  of  Christian  MtirSS^J* 

hSrf  nn  .1  patriotism.  Mber  Sd  wIk£! 

I     mail  De  how,  after  tiic  manner  m  which  God's  mills 

And  by  the  principle  of  Christian  nationalism  embodied  in 
U^^U^^""'^''  hope  at  last,  even  though  the  day 
be  faoff  dthyid,  not  only  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  n«io«2 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


3^9 


anshan  unity  as  related  to  the  Church  of  Rone,  but  alao 
to  realise  the  world  unity  of  the  Church.  As  I  have  said  before. 
It  IS  by  the  deveioimt  of  national  Churches  embodying  and 
inspiring  and  consecrating  to  God  the  genius  and  destiw  d 
each  nation  that  the  elements  of  a  yet  larger  unity  are  to  be 
prepared.  The  first  is  not  contradictory  of  the  second;  it  is 
essential  to  it,  as  the  perfection  of  the  Hate  requires  the  per- 
fection of  the  family  unit,  and  the  family  demands  and  does 
not  exclude  the  richest  individualism.  It  is  out  of  her  perfect 
numstry  to  the  Ufc  of  cMh  nation  that  the  aurch  is  to  be  pre- 
pared to  minister  to  the  life  of  •»  hiniiiij,  and  to  achieve  its 
unity. 

And  it  is  of  this  ministry,  expressed  as  yet  between  the 
Christian  and  non-Christian  nations  by  tl.r,  missionary  move- 
ment alone,  or  at  least  best»  that  we  cone  now  to  speak  at  the 
close  of  these  lectures. 

I  qooted,  in  speaking  of  the  relation  of  the  missions  to  the 
native  Churches  which  it  was  their  ami  to  found,  Ptofessor 
Rcmsch's  summary  of  the  modem  growth  of  the  principle  of 
nationalism.  After  the  passage  quoted.  Professor  Reinsch  went 
on  to  point  out  the  danfera  wMeh  He  hi  this  principle: 

The  nationaKstic  principle  bears  within  it  the  possible  source 
of  Its  own  destruction,  and  unless  carefully  guarded  against 
f^*"?^' 'tself  lead  to  a  disturbance  of  the  equilibrium 

H?1.tTirt  i?*ir*r"'-^  °^  «^«sa«on  depends.  Within 
the  latter  half  of  the  mneteenth  century,  nationalism  has  been 
thus  exaggerated;  goin^  beyond  a  hejdthy  desire  to  express  the 

ters  to  P?"  A«J^cryi^f  as  barbarous  or  decadent,  of  every- 
thing orinnateig  outside  of  the  national  boundary.  Within  the 
lo  K  I  "  ^  growing  tendency  to  enforce,  by  custom 
and  law,  absolute  uniformity  of  characteristics.  Lanrtkures  and 
literatures  peculiar  to  snurtler  communities  are  not  wi^raeed 

u'^J*^  T^^'r  by  the  natiSnai 

langm^.  In  mternational  politics  the  motives  of  foreign  nations 

ff^!i*  !u*^T'**"*'y,'"!'""*^*^'''**^<'  Each  nation  looks  upon 
Itself  as  the  bearer  of  the  only  true  civiKsation.  France  mdces 
wars  as  a  herald  of  proress;  and  when  Germany  is^rious! 
she,  in  turn,  aasottnect  •  triun^h  for  dv^aM  £v*  iijnk 


3H        CHRISTIANmr  AND  THE  NATIONS 

•ndsciwicc,  perhaps  the  most  cosmopolitan  of  all  our^iiu  aj. 
natioiudisuif  tendency  has  left  i>q  marL.    t        P""uits,  this 

temporary  art  and  science  as  w^l  ** 
h™d?^'y^rlX%™Zl''' Weals  during  tt. 

R».ss.au  are  hrmS  „ JS/fJlT",-  '5'  """"oW".  and 
which  die  CMtunr  had  bLmf  *MPPomted  the  hopes  with 

spread  attention  and  her/mrri,-  J. •     ***f*"'y,  attracted  wide- 

a  rush  of^irsVSts  SitlrSl ^ 

This  general  character  of  the  ape  i<  written  ..i„:  i    •  ... 
records  of  contemporary  political  Tf  J    Till    P>'"'y *he 
passed  through  their  historU  Ivii.  1-       J*"^  nations,  having 
developed  individualities  ^^to  fl^^^^^  now.  with  fullv 

the  i^ds  of  human  activitv  hL  ?i!  L*"*""  ^^^'"P^tition  fa  «B 
On  the  same  TeJwheE^  ^Se1^,"thTt  JfSS*^'  dimensions, 
war  do  they  now  exert  theiT^lUJc  -^  ^J-  *™aments  for 
true  that  in  this  wav  thiv  all  directions.    It  is 

than  could  ever  L  hrn„rKr  S^f^P  ^•t*"ty  and  abiUty 

Sit  Sir  riJIl^  brought  about  in  a  condition  of  worid  Mifi? 
but^jr^valy^may  become  .uiddaI.-(Ri„«2^'*l 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


365 


Nationalism,  instead  of  preparing  for  the  development  of 
htunan  umty,  may  prove  its  destruction.  There  are  many  in 
both  the  East  and  the  West  who  put  an  interpretation  upon  it 
which  IS  mconsistent  with  world  unity.  In  the  year  1895  when 
relations  between  Great  Britain  and  America  were  shadowed 
by  the  difficulty  over  the  Venezuelan  boundary  question,  at  the 
English  service  on  Christmas  morning  at  the  American  mission 
Church  m  Teheran,  Persia,  the  customary  prayer  for  the  Queen 
and  the  President  "that  they  may  vanquish  and  overcome  all 
their  enemies."  was  omitted,  and  a  prayer  for  peace  substituted. 
An  Enghsh  officer  present  was  much  impressed,  and  wrote  an 
ingenious  prayer  in  the  form  of  a  sonnet,  referring  to  tiie  inci- 
dent, and  dosing  with  the  lines: 

Two  mightiest  nations,  may  we  sheathe  the  sword 

rhat  oui  great  destiny  be  not  refused. 
The  common  faith  we  hold  from  common  birth. 

10  spread  Thy  gloiy  and  to  rule  Thine  earth. 

If  tfitt  be  deemed  a  flight  of  poetical  fancy,  as  much  cannot 
be  said  of  Edwwd  Dicey's  phun  statement  in  the  NmHunik 

South'Afritt^^****''        "  "  "  War  in 

"  In  every  part  of  the  world  where  British  interests  are  at 
stake,  I  am  in  favour  of  advancing  and  upholding  these  interests, 
even  at  the  cost  of  annexation  and  at  the  risk  of  war.  The  only 
quaUikation  I  admit,  is  that  the  country  we  desire  to  annex 
or  take  under  our  protection,  the  claims  we  choose  to  assert, 
and  Uie  cause  we  decide  to  espouse,  should  be  calculalad  to 
confer  a  tangible  advantage  upon  the  British  Empire." 

We  should  have  to  go  to  niiHtant  Islam,  it  must  be  said  to 
our  shame,  to  parallel  such  words  in  the  East,  and  milituH 
^am  has  no  longer  any  nationalistic  expression.  The  worst 
that  we  can  find  in  tiie  East  would  be  an  occasional  irresponsible 
outburst  of  some  Japanese  writer,  or  tite  mere  assertka  bv 
India  or  China  of  their  desire  to  be  let  alone  to  develop  thc^ 
own  destiny  without  entering  the  human  unity.  Mr.  


366        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  RATIONS 

truthfully  puts  this  view  into  the  mouth  of  hi,  Qilnwe  ofid.! 

at  the  cost  of  imitating  your  inittttk«  \  ^° 

r^r      rr-^' '-^'-^'^ 

«.«  is  a  moi.n,  Hindu  na.io«Z  w^i.^:^'^' 

wa«  hnrn  f  tt-  IQOJ,    in  Hmduism  India 

was  born,  and  if  Hindu  sm  be  disreirardeH  T«iu  •« 

tobc,  Md  nothmg  more;  the  spirit  of  the  world  unity  i.  w«Sf 

And  not  only  are  our  nationalisms  in  dan«r  of  i»Atn, 
denymg  the  spirit  of  the  world  unity  but  iJiX  LvT^  I 
years  our  nation,  of  the  West  have'so         L^n  ^^^'f 
racial  divisions  with  bitterness  wS  di^^rt'^^w"  Ll  fL^J 
down  upon  the  non-Chmti^  P^'Z  Z 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  367 
with  overbearing  contempt    We  have  forgotten  "that  scorn 

James  Stewart,  p  aSa.)   Our  mrtioaal  relations  with  the  non- 
Chr.st.an  nat.ons  have  been  marked  by  a  lewe  and 
of  our  racul  superiority.    And  it  is  necessary  to  add^StTt 
.»  not  possible  to  separate  our  national  relatiLhips  frJm  he 
effects  of  personal  contempt  «k1  injurtice.   Let  n^  dtTthre! 

^sr     -^^^^-^  .  fS;3 

*°        "lawlessness"  abroad  in  the  land  Let 

Stored  and  Uie  tacUcs^Sd  -flJ^ffl  --i  ^^'^  genUeman 
to  pursue  the  mJtter  fVXr  an?  n,.?^'*'  "^2?  ^'^^^  *f"i<» 

«nt.mately  a  great  many  British  o«d!u    STLE? "  °' 

•Wicet-  Am  /  to  be  outdone  .'ii  politeness  by  a^TcSS?^ 

in  S^w"?il"T  °'  ^^^l*     «  hospiul 

«  ooocDow.  CbfaM.   A  poor  woman  who  Uved  on  the  b^llk 


368        CHRISlTANmr  AND  THE  NATIONS 

of.  «nal  where  the  had  a  tiny  garden,  came  to  the  hospital 
suffering  from  ,  painful  affection  of  the  fwre.  The 
«u«»onanr  saw  her  shivering,  as  though  cold,  in  the  waitinr 

^tiv  1^  5*™«      ^'a*  examined,  though  she 

evidently  labouring  under  much  excitement   She  was  advised 
to  remain  for  an  operation,  but  at  once  left  the  hospitd  ud 
.l*''*iJ^2!''  ^"  ^^^^^rnent  disappear^ 

^nfiH^!  ^  "^"^  Afterwards  s^ 

confided  to  the  missionary  that  she  had  been  in  deadly  fear  of 

.  'T  ''''  ^""'^"^"^  Shanghai  had  be« 
accustomed  to  come  hunting  to  Soochow,  and  had  tied  up  their 
boats  at  her  httie  property  «,d  ravaged  her  garden.  Ld  Z 
ternhed  her  that  she  had  been  accustomed  to  flee  il^  ,S 

m  ^  'andT H  ^^L^^^^.-PPO-d  that  all  foreigne^Tw 
like  them,  and  it  had  been  hard  for  her  to  conquer  her  fears 
so  far  as  to  come  to  the  hospital.  Now  she  realised  that  there 
were  good  and  bad  foreigners,  just  as  there  were  good  Ind  Z 
Orniese.  But  there  are  many  who  have  received  no' such  revi,- 
tion  at  a  mission  hospital  or  elsewhere. 

The  third  is  a  longer  story,  and  I  shaU  let  our  friend  the 
Rev.  Donald  Fraser  of  Uvingstonia,  teU  it  without  comSat: 

.  The  following  story  will  show  one  reason  whv  Afri/^«  «,;c 

hardships  of  the  long  mfrch"  th^  we?e  temoL  of 

of  the  abundance  of  cattle  to  l2^founVf„  C     m"  «>n»ncet 

"^JZrTX  ha^wlH"  S  ™  ^^^^ 

whkh  wlrheroi^ltrha^^'S^^^^^^^  ^''^f 

lived  on  native  fo^.  aVhad  tramiSd  tilf  tKr""fif 

away  and  their  clothes  were  in  rf «    tI        ■         jy*'"^  ^om 

to  sp«k  .  wort  of  m,  native  haga^.   The,  tad  tokS  i 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  369 

^      *  ^°^y^'  n^fch.  Their  carriers  had  imposed  on 
f^'J^i.  the  usual  waJT^had 

refused  to  go  any  farther,  when  they  were  only  f  few  mUes 
from  our  station,  unless  an  increase  of  pay  was  promised  Thtv 
had  pretended  weariness,  sickness,  hungeV.  anytWr^at  woSd 
make  the  Englishmen  buy  goats  and  other' luSffoTiiSS  to 
eat.  The  traders  stayed  in  my  house  for  a  week  ortwo  ^t^n. 

oLf  thS;^;*°"11t"'"  "^"^         "^^^e  thrda-Sng  venS^e^ 
one  that  he  might  soon  have  a  home  for  his  wife  the  othS  2U 
he  might  return  to  his  mother  in  England.    These  first 
bought  about  two  hundred  cattle  with  their  Kred  SSds 
But  on  y  one  arrived  back  in  Umtali.    The  Sshbs'Sf  the 

of'^th^":^?  ^ll^r^T"  °f  the  twa   BuMhe  neiS 

of  the  possibility  of  getting  quantities  of  cattle  at  about  t« 

a  flood  of  adventurers  into  the  country.    The  orices  hZ^rT*^ 
"P-    A*.'^*       the  »"n>lus  cattiT  were  tought  an^tS 
natives.  gurf«ted  with  caHco       beads,  refused  to  sd  ',^"1 
of  Natal  "TZ"       ^^'^^hed  this  stage,  a  young  man.TStiy« 

?hd?S'  Peopi?^??nSiHn'?"Jpart'w"?h 
their  stock  and  that  those  who  were  ready  to  fell  demandlS 
four  and  six  times  the  price  he  expected.  ^  he  San  ^^£0^!^ 
the  sales.    He  took  possession  of  about  foSy  old  wWch 

w  tS  he'd"? T/i""^*^-   "^t?^-  he  ffbrouSt 

TrV?.,  L        distributed  among  his  followers,  and  then  marched 

R^moSrfn/S-"  ,^  f ^>""^"t,  or  nothing  at  in  ' 
tSf  ¥  - s^ie'-f  ^ 

otfier  lads  to  make  inquiries.   After  having  beard  nSnv  a  ^ 


370        CHRISTIANlTy  AND  THE  NATIONS 

tion.  he  and  several  of  his  fnends  went  to  speak  with  the 
n^.   Takmg  off  bis  hat  a»d  ritt«f  dcm«*Sfo«  W,?'l^ 

to  ^aTto^T?^    ''^'^  ^  '■^p"*^^^ "  w'^o  y« 

"       master  sent  me,"  answered  David 

vokcS  i^^Ilt  <>*er  lads  eapcd  up,  angnr  at  the  unpro- 

voked insult,  and,  seizing  their  sticks,  struck  at  Z—    He  then 
TWh°"*  5'^^/«^°lver  and  emptied  it  wnSTThe  nJtives 
They  fled  in  all  directions;  but  he  climbed  an  anSiill  and  firS 
''S*  ^  ''P^ti'^g  rifle  after  tS  Sers  tS 

?xru     T       '"arks  on  the  terrified  men 
When  I  heard  this  story  I  wrote  a  letter  to  the  nearest  Gov- 
ernment  collector,  and  sent  off  some  of  the  toys  S  the  bke 

tTeVVLT"^Zl*°o;"^^"'^'*  day'^'Th'at'e'jeiStJl 

inere  was  a  good  deal  of  excitement  amone  the  oeoole 

It  rose  higher  when  runners  came  in  to  report  thiT^  ™ 

were  missing  and  were  thought  to  be  kiUed.^d  tha 

fled  during  the  night,  taking  all  the  cattle  wi  h  hSn  MvT^I^heS 

also  sent  notes  to  sav  that  th#  chi^f       u:!       •     ^  «acners 

out  to  folW  »4,^^-7  J  warriors  were  go  ne 

off  P""»sh  him.    I  forthwith  sttrt 

cflf  other  messengers  to  the  lake,  calling  on  the  collectorto  oJSi 

as  quickly  as  possible,- and  telling  hinfthat  I  i^ht  not 

to  prevent  the  army  from  doin|  harm  to  ieThhe  ma^T  At 

Z^^^J  '°      '^'''^       t°  the  teacheTs  urging 

starte^Iftt/z^  ^^".^        "  '^'ith  clubs,  h^l 

grrte-d^-a n%^^^^^^^     ^  V^s 

The  teachers  of  the  district  told  thr  Uds  to  Lt  ^l^se 

sooi:^rh'"  «"  runnerVto^JaTSiat 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY  jy, 

iSr?to"Al%ffi*'^^^'^-  Th^^  "i^H?  I  sent  back  lessen- 
Scoiwt  mSst  S;  SSyT^u^  tkTtSS^T^**"  that  on  no 
.  BrItiA  subject  and""m^usf  not"U  'l^' •  S^d'ThaTon 
morning  early,  if  the  collector  had^wtSriiM  71*°"  Monday 
myself  to  the  disturbed  district  ^  «° 

that  I  Jks  alon.  Dr  S  y^Hh^^S^''  "^-J"^ 

Of  their  wroMTiS  *  ^"^""^      *<>     with  tales 

years  was  carried  to  the  sid"of'th^  mS**  He  lw  ?  his  n,„ety 

men  had  entered  his  village  had^LE?;il       ''15°'^  ^  ^ 

the  women  in  the  yiiiux^Z^^ft^^     ■  outraged 

trinic^h^i       s'd  i^Sk^dTrdo'vi;: 

two^saTdreita^^i^  fo'^t  i^^tJetSS"^^^ 

ThV'r^sf;rie^:{S  ~r  ^^^^^ 

ask^XllShSl^^lSl^^?'       '^''^  '^'^       spoke.  He 
15^^  WerTanWo^  a^^^^  ^i^^ 

having  their  foSti^^ith  hJnTrLs^thT  cilue  "sS  "'^f 
foats,  and  we  would  not  altow  them  tn  Jr-c*     •     '  ^"**P' 


i  ! 


NUaiOCOPV  MSOIUTION  TBT  CHART 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


37a 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


I  had  sent  runners  to  the  nearest  collector,  but  no  answer  had 
been  received.  I  could  only  explain  this  silence  by  surmising 
that  he  recognised  that  the  Neoni  were  still  an  independent 
people,  and  were  outside  his  s^iere  of  jurisdiction.  But  they 
must  not  think  that  our  Queen  approved  of  such  raiding  !w 
white  men ;  that  she  stands  for  justice  and  for  peace.  Then  1 
suggested  that  as  the  collector  had  not  come,  and  as  the  cattle 
would  soon  be  out  of  their  country  and  beyond  their  control, 
a  company  of  fighting  men  should  go  out  in  the  morning  and 
stop  the  cattle,  and  that  Dr.  Scott  and  I  would  go  with  them, 
on  certain  conditions — namely,  that  we  choose  the  warriors ;  that 
we  alone  have  dealings  with  the  white  man,  for  they  were  not 
gmng  to  ^ht,  but  to  ask  him  to  come  back  to  settle  the  dispute 
m  open  court;  and  that  no  beer  should  be  drunk  on  the  way  to 
inflame  their  passions.   These  conditions  were  at  once  granted. 

Next  morning  the  regiments  gathered.  They  dashed  up  to 
the  kraal  gate,  some  of  them  adorned  with  wild  feather  head- 
dress, and  all  ftilly  armed  with  spears  and  shields  and  old  muzzle- 
kwtding  guns.  Before  they  had  gatiiered,  however,  a  messei^ 
arrived  from  Mr.  Murray,  to  say  that  the  collector  was  at 
E^wendeni  and  would  start  in  the  morning  for  the  chief's  kraal. 
We  fcnt  out  a  special  lot  of  carriers  to  meet  him  and  bring 
hhn  on  with  all  speed.  When  he  arrived  he  explained  that  he 
had  been  delayed  by  the  rain.  The  diief  and  his  people  gathered 
together  on  the  following  morning,  and  again  went  over  their 
tale  of  woe.  And  the  collector,  through  his  interpreter,  made 
a  strone  speech  to  the  people  denouncing  such  filibustering,  and 
asked  ror  a  conmany  of  warriors  to  go  out  with  him  and  his 
police  to  pursue  Z— --'s  party.  That  afternoon  tiwy  started  off, 
and  with  easier  minds  Dr.  Scott  and  I  returned  home,  leaving 
the  whole  affair  in  the  hands  of  the  collector.  It  is  a  rule  of 
our  missicm  that  we  should  not  interfere  with  civil  matters,  and 
ttqrmd  expounding  what  we  bdicvc  to  be  the  laws  of  justice 
Md  peace,  we  leave  tite  administration  of  ttiem  to  the  proper 
native  and  European  authorities. 

After  a  few  days  the  collector  returned  without  his  captive. 

Z         had  a  week  s  start  of  his  pursuers,  and  was  out  of  the 

country  long  before  they  reached  its  borders.  The  new  telegraph 
Hne  was  set  a-workhig  for  Z>— 's  arrest.  But  he  had  tAm 
the  bull  by  the  horns,  and  had  lodged  a  complaint  against  us 
at  the  first  Government  station  he  had  come  to.  He  told  how 
Ngoniland  was  in  a  state  of  great  unrest,  and  required  immediate 
pacification  by  British  arms;  how  the  missionary  had  s«t  out 
•n  impi  to  attadc  him,  and  tiicy  liad  itiaad  a  gnM  tmAn  9i 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


373 


his  cattle,  boxes  of  gin,  and  other  things;  how  lie  had  heen 
wounded  on  the  head  and  body,  and  had  barely  escaped  with 
his  life.  Where  he  told  it  his  story  was  accepted  as  truth.  The 
Central  Africa  Government,  however,  began  to  investigate  the 

whole  affair,  and  a  few  months  after  Z  was  brought  back 

to  Ekwendeni  for  trial  before  the  sub-commissioner,  Captafai 
Pearce.  Mr.  Knipe,  the  collector  whose  kindly  manner  quickly 
won  the  confidence  of  the  people,  prosecuted  on  behalf  of  the 
Queen.  The  prisoner  was  charged  with  nine  serious  crimes,  and 
was  found  guilty  of  eight  of  them.  A  pleasing  feature  of  the 
trial  was  that  not  a  single  misstatement  or  contradiction  was 
made  by  the  Ngoni  witnesses,  in  spite  of  all  the  cross-examina- 
tion.  It  was  far  otherwise  with  the  native  servants  of  Z  

who  came  to  give  evidence  in  his  favour.  One  of  our  teaehors, 

in  telling  his  story,  said  that  at  first  he  thought  Z  's  men  were 

askari— that  is.  Government  police.  "What  made  you  think 
that  ?  "  the  commissioner  sharply  asked. 

"  Because  they  were  lifting' cattle  without  paying  for  them," 
tiie  witness  naively  replied.  There  was  a  langh  in  tin  court  at 
this  unconscious  sarcasm. 

The  Judge  summed  up  in  a  long  and  able  speech,  in  which 

he  censured  Z        in  the  strongest  language.    He  found  him 

guilty  of  leading  an  armed  party  through  a  country  frioidly 
to  her  Majesty,  and  that  his  part^  had  seized  cattle,  had  out- 
raged, wounded,  and  killed  the  natives.  He  was  then  sentenced 
to  pay  a  fine  of  fifty  pounds,  was  bound  over  to  keep  the  peace 
in  a  recognisance  of  twenty-five  pounds,  with  a  bond  of  one 
hundred  powids,  and  was  nuide  to  pay  thirty  shillings  com- 
pensation to  the  nearest  rehitive  of  etth  one  who  had  been  killed, 
as  well  as  compensation  to  those  natives  who  had  been  assaulted, 
outraged,  and  robbed.  The  man  was  subsequently  expelled  from 
the  country  for  the  repetition  of  his  crimes. 

The  effect  of  his  trial  was  to  increase  the  fa^^ 

among  the  natives  tiiat  tiie  British  uovernment  is  tiiert  for  thav 
protection,  and  vhat  the  whitencM  of  a  akaiui't  ahfai  wffl 
save  him  from  punishment 

But  when  Z  left  the  court  with  his  friend,  a  gold  pros- 
pector, their  remark  to  one  another  was :  "  These  nttsskMariaa 
are  a  curse  to  the  countrv.  They  are  spoiling  it  for  other  whilt 
men."— (TA*  CkritHm  Esprus,  June  i,  1901.) 

Such  tales,  thank  God,  do  not  tell  the  whole  story  of  our 
itlatiM  to  tht  aoa-atttetiMi  peopte.  Thart  tevt  ta«  Mf 


374        CHRISnANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


noUe  and  true  men  who  have  lived  among  these  peoples  and 
represented  there  the  ideals  of  justice  and  righteousness,  but 
the  problem  of  unity  has  been  made  tenfold  more  difficult  by 
the  spirit  of  wrong  and  racial  pride  which  these  three  tales 
tllttstrate,  and  which  has  marked  in  one  degree  and  anoOna 
much  of  our  contact  with  the  other  peoples.  "  The  cmtduct  of 
most  foreigners,  the  missionary  excepted,"  said  Mr.  John  W. 
Foster  with  temperate  self-restraint,  "  in  their  intercourse  with 
the  natives  (of  China),  has  been  truthfully  described  as  master- 
ful, high-handed,  and  generally  overbearing,"  and  he  quoted 
General  Gordon's  words,  forty  years  ago,  that  the  Chinese  "  have 
suffered  much  wrong  from  foreigners,  who  have  pre>cd  on  dwir 
country." 

And  not  only  by  misconstruction  of  the  nationalistic  principle 
and  by  individual  insolence  of  race  have  we  nnde  our  problem 
harder,  but  the  problem  itself  has  almost  resolved  ttsdf  into 
the  necessity  of  justifying,  or,  since  that  cannot  be  done,  of 
atoning  for  the  history  of  our  past  national  dealings  with  the 
non-Christian  peoples.  We  have  taken  thdr  territory,  we  hav« 
maltreated  their  immigrants,  we  have  shattered  their  institutions, 
we  have  destroyed  their  industries,  we  have  ridiculed  their  cus- 
toms and  sacred  institutions.  Called  of  God  to  weld  humanity 
into  a  unity,  we  have  done  our  best  to  ffll  it  with  misunder- 
standings and  deep-seated  hates.  This  is  the  dark  construction 
of  modem  history.  There  is  also  a  noble  story  of  human 
service  and  national  fair-dealing.  And  back  of  all,  and  over 
all,  a  better  will  has  wrought  and  evil  has  been  shorn  of  its 
full  power,  and  in  spite  of  all,  the  love  of  God  has  been  com- 
pacting the  world's  life,  and  the  end  of  all,  we  hold,  will  be 
the  OM  family  of  God. 

In  counteracting  all  that  has  hindered,  and  in  providing  ele- 
ments which  are  essential  to  the  perfecting  of  Christian  national- 
im  and  tfie  unification  of  mankind,  the  missionary  enterpHtt 
is  charged  with  the  necessary  and  availing  work. 

I.  First  of  all,  it  is  the  missionary  construction  of  Chris- 
tianity alone  which  proclaims  a  hope  and  use  for  every  race. 
It  afimi  the  d^ty  of  «idi  nattonal  gtnitu  and  diul&uy,  and 


BilSSIONS  AND  UNITY 


37S 


die  necesnty  of  its  contrilmtkm  to  tiw  perfected  ixBoStf  of  God 
It  denies  the  validity  of  the  principle  of  racial  separatioo,  and 
will  not  believe  that  any  fiat  of  the  Ahnighfy  has  closed  tf» 
door  or  denied  the  power  of  the  endless  life  to  any  race.  It 
takes  issue  absdutely  wtUi  Mr.  Townsend's  view  that  "  some- 
thing radical,  something  unalterable  and  indestructible  divides 
the  Asiatic  from  the  European.  .  .  .  They  are  fenced  ofiE 
from  each  other  by  an  invisible,  impalpdde,  but  impassable 
wall."— ("Asia  and  Europe,"  pp.  50,  150.)  That  is  the  fact 
with  which  the  merely  political  construction  of  the  world  con- 
fronts itself.  "Imperialism,"  as  the  New  York  Post  put  it 
recently,  "is  all  the  while  being  broogfat  up  short  with  these 
mortifying  inconsistencies.  It  professes  to  be  going  forward 
with  a  policy  of  all-embracing  justice.  Freedom  and  self-gov- 
ernment it  cannot  promise,  but  fair  and  equal  treatment  it  60m. 
Yet  it  finds  that  the  ugly  prejudice  of  race  and  colour  is  ever 
and  again  nullifying  its  fine  words.  There  is  no  magic  in  the 
word  imperial  to  make  men  abandon  greed  and  deal  with  a 
feltow-being  as  an  equal  before  the  law  and  in  the  ug^t  of  God. 
And  whether  we  call  ourselves  imperialist  or  parochial,  there 
is  not  much  for  it  but  to  get  it  into  our  heads  and  our  hearts 
that  it  is  infinitely  mean  to  despise  a  man,  and  refuse  to  ghre 
him  a  fair  chance,  merely  because  he  is  poor  or  blade"  But 
that  word  belongs  to  Christianity  and  to  the  missionary  con- 
struction of  Christianity.  Without  it  our  political  problem  is 
hopeless,  the  proMem  merely  of  trace  among  foes,  Ae  accept- 
ance of  a  perpetual  estrangement  in  humanity.  The  miiliomiry 
enterprise  gives  us  the  exactly  opposite  principle. 

2.  In  the  development  of  a  true  nationalism  and  of  friendly 
racial  elations  the  missionary  afency  is  as  Mr.  Reed,  the  United 
States  Minister  to  China,  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  State  in 
18581  a  great  conserving  and  conciliating  influence.  "Having 
no  enthusiasm  on  the  subject,"  wrote  Mr.  Reed,  "  I  an  bound 
to  say  that  I  consider  the  missionary  element  in  China  a  great 
conservative  and  protecting  principle.  It  is  the  only  barrier 
between  the  unhesitating  advance  of  commercial  adv«tere  aad 
the  not  Incei^nim  ekaent  of  Chinese  fanbedit  cocrupHon,'^ 


SJ6        CHRISTIANrrY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

The  service  of  die  misskniaiy  enterprise  in  tfds  regard  is  varfed 

•nd  it  is  indispensable  to  the  neighborliness  of  mankind.  The 
missionaries  make  the  East  and  West,  the  North  and  South, 
acqtiainted  with  one  another.  "  The  greatest  agency  to-day  in 
keeping  us  advised  of  the  conditicms  among  Oriental  races," 
said  Pr.iident  Taft  in  a  recen.  address,  "is  the  establishment 
of  foreign  missions."— (Address  at  Founders'  Day  Exercises, 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia,  February  22,  1909.) 
All  other  agencies  combined  do  not  do  as  much  to  introduce  the 
Wes*  to  the  Oriental  races.  The  missionaries  bind  the  peoples 
in  friendliness.  They  draw  after  them  the  love  of  millions  in 
the  lands  from  which  tney  come,  and  it  is  dieir  business  to 
win  the  friendship  of  those  to  whom  they  go.  There  they 
become  centres  of  good-will  and  kindly  feeling.  What  one  of 
the  oldest  of  their  mmber,  Dr.  WiUtam  Ashmore.  has  said  of 
his  asaodates  in  China  is  true  the  work!  over: 

The  Missionary  himself  is  a  very  niunerous  perswiage. 
Taken  men  and  women  tc^ther  there  are  about  twenty-six 
hundred  of  him  in  China.  Then  all  speak  the  language,  many 
of  them  with  very  great  fluency.  In  addition  to  their  knowledge 
of  the  language  is  their  even  more  important  knowledge  of  the 
people  themselves,  of  their  local  usages  and  customs,  and  of 
their  ways  of  reasoning  and  of  looking  at  things — quite  abreast 
of  the  native  himself,  some  of  them.  They  loiow  yamen  usages 
and  all  the  innumerable  ins  and  outs  of  the  whole  social  ma- 
chinery. These  Chinese-speaking  men  and  wcmien  are  scattered 
an  over  the  Empire,  in  every  one  of  tiie  provinces—some  one 
or  more  of  them  in  almost  every  great  city.  They  live  among 
the  people,  and  are  in  close  contact  with  them  every  day — with 
common  people,  with  merchants,  with  the  respectable  gentry  of 
the  city  and,  to  some  extent,  with  the  officials.  It  is  the  bouneti 
of  these  persons  to  conciliate  people.  That  is  what  tii^  are 
there  for.  They  seek  to  do  it  to  the  utmost  of  their  ability, 
and  the  majority  of  them  display  some  tact  in  the  matter;  thiy 
start  schools  and  they  open  hospitals;  they  dispense  medicines; 
they  are  in  the  market  and  in  the  shops,  and  along  the  highway, 
and  talking  with  people,  making  acquaintances  and  maidi^ 
friends — friends  not  only  for  themselves,  but  for  their  country- 
men far  away  whom  the  town  people  have  never  seen,  but  about 
whom  tfaqr  havt  hnrd  ttiat  tiuy  are  ogres  and  dtvils.  TImm 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


377 


nussiwaries  show  that  it  is  not  to,  for  tfiese  nussionaries  are 
cultured  people  and  have  good  manners,  and  understand  mo- 
priety.  They  are  not  rude  and  rough  in  Aeir  treatment  of  uidr 
servants,  and  they  pay  all  their  debts,  and  have  warm  friends 
among  the  shopkeepers,  who  commend  ^em  for  their  fair  dealing. 

An  acquired  rq>utation  like  this  is  worth  something  to  the 
entire  foreign  community  in  China,  and  is  the  more  highly  to 
be  prized  in  that  it  is  oftentimes  of  slow  acquisition,  and  repre- 
sents a  deal  of  patient  living  down  of  the  bad  reputation  which 
in  the  minds  of  most  coimtry  people  attaches  to  the  \yestem 
man.  We  have  no  means  of  estnnating  the  amount  of  diis  kind- 
liness and  softened  estimate  towards  us  as  foreigners  generated 
by  the  missionary  body,  but  we  do  know  that  it  is  very  good. 
One  missionary  family  in  an  inland  town  or  city  will,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  make  hundreds  of  friends,  possibly,  or 
if  not  actual  friends,  people  who  will  be  kindly  diqwsed  to  him 
and  his  little  children. 

In  time  of  suffering  it  is  they  who  enlist  the  sympathy  of 
the  richer  peoples  and  are  the  almoners  of  their  twunty.  Of 
their  services  in  the  last  great  famine  in  China,  one  of  the 
leading  English  papers  in  Shanghai  remarked :  "  It  must  be 
r^rded  as  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  the  famine  commit- 
tees have  been  aUe  to  enlist  the  services  of  the  local  mission- 
aries ia  tiK  diatributkM  of  rdief .  Then*  fitness  for  tiie  wwrk 
entrusted  to  them,  which  they  have  willingly  undertaken,  no 
one  will  question,  whilst  their  probity  and  conscientious  adminis- 
tration of  the  funds  are  equally  beyond  cavil.  Their  knowledge 
of  the  language  and  customs  of  the  people,  and  their,  generally 
speaking,  friendly  relations  with  them,  constitute  them  the  most 
fitting  instruuients  for  the  work."  {The  North  Chitut  Herald, 
Mardi  aS,  1907,  editorial,  "The  Famine.")  Many  session- 
aries,  already  endeared  to  the  people  among  whom  they  worked, 
have  been  enshrined  in  an  almost  religious  reverence  for  such 
sacrificial  service. 

It  would  be  easy  to  nniltiply  indefinitely  the  evidences  of 
the  work  of  sympathy  and  conciliatory  understanding  wrought 
by  missionaries.  Two  concrete  illustrations  must  suffice.  One 
is  the  case  of  a  missi(mary  in  Qtina  who,  after  twenty  years 
of  twvioe,  was  rttttfttiag  hotne  •  jfctr  ago.  Before  he  It^  two 


Sl9        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

doamwiitt  of  •ppredatkm  were  drawn  up  by  the  prefector^l  and 
county  mandarins  of  the  neighbourhood  where  he  resided.  Tha 
prefectural  mandarin  wrote  of  him :  "  During  the  p?ot  few  years, 
whenever  I  have  interviewed  the  gentry  and  scholars,  the 
merchants,  and  the  people  generany,  in  the  country  around,  they 
all  without  exception  have  spoken  of  his  goodness  in  a  most 
spontaneous  fashion.  Those  worn  with  age  or  ruddy  with  youth 
aU  tefl  the  same  tale.  A  reBned  f-*  ndship  has  been  cemented 
between  the  missionary  and  mysel       ring  tiie  whole  of  iditch 
Ihave  never  heard  him  utter  ai     igenerous  word,  or  seen  a 
frown  upon  his  face.  We  often  chatted  together  at  considerable 
length,  and  on  each  occasion  there  has  been  the  unconstrained 
outflow  of  thought  and  feeling.    I  have  been  glad,  indeed,  in 
my  wanderings  to  have  met  with  such  a  friend.   And  I  have 
been  even  more  glad  to  note  tiie  manner  in  which  !     is  aroused 
the  latent  sensibilities  of  the  populace  to  similarity  of  feeling 
and  a  recognition  of  the  essential  unity  of  principles,  so  that  the 
twrriers  of  East  and  West  have  been  forgotten,  and  a  valuable 
omtribtttion  has  been  secured  toward  cordial  international  rdt- 
tions  generally."  And  many  such  words.   To  which  the  county 
mandarin  adds  much  more,  saying,  among  other  things :  "  He 
has  lived  here  for  twenty  years,  and  managed  matters  so  well 
that  there  has  been  no  enmity  between  the  populace  and  the 
Church.    Indeed,  the  whole  prefecture  unites  as  one  in  his 
praiws— a  fact  so  well  known  that  I  need  not  relate  it.  He 
has  been  pre-eminent  in  his  proclamation  of  re%ion,  both  in 
its  details  and  in  its  permeating  principles.    And  he  may  rest 
assured  that,  after  his  return,  his  instruction  and  doctrine  will 
continue  to  fnogress  naore  and  more." 

The  other  illustration  is  the  life  of  Dr.  C.  W.  Forman,  for 
nearly  half  a  century  a  missionary  in  Lahore,  India.  At  his 
death  in  1894  Th4  TrUnme,  a  non-Christian  paper  published  in 
Lahcve,  sunnned  up  the  pofwlar  estimate  of  the  man: 

It  will  be  long  before  Lahoris  forget  the  sweet  and  benign 
face  of  the  great  American  missionary,  who  went  to  his  reward 
on  Monday  last.  They  had  affectionately  styled  him  Baba  For- 
taan  (Grandftttier  Formafi),  and  whenever  he  passed  through 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


379 


the  streets  on  his  way  to  tiie  scKool  or  one 
stations  in  the  city  crowds  of  boys  would  follow  him  with  ones 
of  "  Baba  Forman ! "  and  sometimes,  surrounding:  him,  pull  his 
sleeves  and  coat-tails  and  beg  for  more  tracts  with  coloured  il- 
lustrations. It  is  only  a  few  months  ago  we  met  him  one  eveni^ 
near  Rang  Mahal  coming  toward  Lohari  Gate.  It  l»d  rained 
hard  the  whole  day  and  the  pavement  was  ankle-deep  in  mud. 
The  narrow  thoroughfare,  nevertheless,  was  crowded  as  ever. 
There  were  the  street  Arabe  fiayiag  in  the  gutters  and  running 
between  people's  legs.  There  were  ladies  painfully  slipping  along 
rather  than  walking  (on  account  of  their  inconvenient  slippers) 
through  the  jostling  crowd.  There  were  the  usual  assortment 
of  pariah  dogs,  Brahminy  bulls,  hawkers  of  sweets,  business  men, 
loafers,  faquirs,  rou^s,  students,  clerks,  etc.  Our  attention  was 
drawn  to  an  end  of  the  street  irom  where  a  knot  of  bojrs  was 
slowly  advancing.  When  sufficiently  near  we  observed  it  was 
the  venerable  Padri  attended  by  his  usual  escort. 

No  one  seeing  him  for  the  first  time  failed  '  >  be  struck  with 
his  magnificent  presence.  He  was  over  rather  thi  ^  below  six  feet 
in  height  and  proportionately  broad.  A  snow-whi  ^  beard  sweep- 
ing a  broad,  manly  chest,  a  large  Roman  nose,  small  laughing 
bluish  grey  eyes,  cliff-like  brows  surmounted  by  a  broad  expan- 
sive forehead,  pdished  as  marble,  made  up  a  face  which  a  sculptor 
would  unhesitatingly  accept  as  a  model  for  the  h^d  of  m 
earnest  teacher.    Half  of  our  educated  young  men  have  be« 
brought  up  in  his  school.  Almost  all  Lahoris  of  the  batch,  whi<ai 
(      ^i$t  retired  or  is  retiring  from  service,  had  received  their 
ion  under  his  supervision,  consequently  there  are  few 
.^posh  people  in  Lahore  who  were  not  perMoally  aoiaainted 
».ith  him.   And  the  good  missionary  did  not  pass  the  mosi  m- 
simificant  among  them  without  stopping  to  enquire  "  to  how 
they  were  dotag,  whether  anything  troubled  them,  etc.  We  doubt 
whether  any  oUier  man,  European  or  Indian,  has  taken  as  great 
a  part  in  the  makmg  of  the  Punjab  of  to-day  as  Dr.  Forman.  A 
history  of  his  educational  work  would  be  almost  the  educatioaal 
history  of  the  Province.  He  came  to  this  city  in  1848  as  a  nris- 
skmaxy  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Church.    Happily  tor 
us,  while  passing  through  Lower  Bengal  on  his  way  to  Upper 
India,  he  had  observed  ttw  brilliant  results  achieved  by  Dr.  Duff 
and  his  devoted  colleagues,  and  he  resolved  m  his  mmd  to  Otfry 
the  Gospel  to  the  people  through  the  medium  of  English  educa- 
tion. Arriving  at  Ludhiana,  he  received  valuable  hints  and  guid 
ance  from  the  late  Dr.  Newton,  whose  daughter  he  afterwaros 
married.  Reaching  Lahcm  he  devoted  att  hti  nagoty  canpeft 


Sto       CHRISnANTTY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

to  bring  the  torch  of  knowledge  to  the  people  who  were  steeped 

ILillKfSSlSLw  '«?°'^n<=«-    He  h-d  to  fight  against 

iVpnilmg  diAmlties,  and  one  by  one  removed  all.  The  authorities 
did  not  .ook  with  favour  on  his  efforts.  The  parents  of  boys 
thought  they  were  conferring  a  great  favour  on  him  by  sendiiw 
the  youngsters  to  him.  He  had  to  give  soholarshtps  to  most  of 
his  pupils  as  an  mducement  to  them  to  stay  in  his  school.  It 
was  by  such  means  that  he  made  education  popular  here  Look, 
rag  round  his  assembled  pupils,  over  one  thousand  in  number  at 
morning  prayer  time,  he  used  often  to  remark  that  he  had  besun 
with  one  and  had  been  delighted  once  on  having  six  togeSer 
bo  long  ago  as  early  in  the  sixties  he  had  opened  coUcteaaasei 
m  his  school  wiA  a  strong  staff  of  professors. 

Afterwards  he  had  reluctantly  to  close  the  college,  but  only 
for  a  few  years.  He  established  more  than  a  dozra  of  branch 
schools  in  all  parts  of  the  city  for  the  teachmg  of  chfldren.  For 
the  benefit  of  workmen  and  others,  who  could  not  afford  to  read 
m  the  daytime,  he  started  a  night-school,  which  was  formerly 
known  as  the  Mission  Adult  School.  There  arc  hundreds  who 
owe  their  rise  in  life  to  that  school.  The  night  school  is  flourish- 
ing and  doing  ite  blessed  work.  Most  of  fus  time  and  attention 
was  given  to  educational  work.  But  he  was  not  at  all  remiss 
in  tas  preaching  duties.  In  every  weather,  in  every  season,  he 
was  never  absent  from  his  post  in  the  Lohari  Gate  or  Delhi  Gate 
Uiapels,  or  Lohari  Mandi  and  Hira  Mandi  preaching  stati(»s. 
To  his  flock  of  the  mission  compound  he  was  as  a  fadier.  He 
L*''  *  but  he  was  very  effective  as  a 

preacher.  Whatever  he  said  came  direct  from  the  heart  and 
went  direct  to  the  heart  of  his  listener.  Though  he  is  no  loneer 
working  m  the  flesh  in  our  midst,  the  spirit  of  his  work  wiU 
beckon  us  onward.  His  memory  will  hxg  be  a  "  pilhir  of  Ueht " 
toourpec^Ie.  r  6 

The  fumral  took  place  on  Thursday  afternoon.  The  body 
was  brought  down  from  Kasauli  and  reached  Lahore  Station 
by  about  3  p.m.  There  was  a  strong  muster  of  pupils,  friends, 
and  admirers  of  the  deceased  missionary  on  the  platform.  A 
solemnsilence  fell  on  the  gathering  as  the  train  arrived.  The 
large  box  containing  the  mortal  remains  was  reverentiy  lifted 
up  by  some  students  of  the  Mission  School  and  others,  and 
*^*if"u  i-IiP  *°  bungalow  in  the  Mission  compound  close  by, 
which  Dr.  Forman  had  occupied  for  over  forty  years.  Thence 
the  body  was  iJaced  in  a  coffin  and  taken  to  the  Mission  Church, 
where  touching  funeral  orations  were  delivered.  Amomr  others, 
the  vcaarabk  Lala  Chuidtt  U  spoke  fcelingfy  of  the  ^mt  wort^ 


lOSSIONS  AND  UNITY 


done  Inr  the  padri.    Then  a  procession  was  formed  and  all 

Eroceciied  through  the  city  to  the  Protestant  Cemetery.  The 
Lev.  Henry  Forman  and  the  Rev.  John  Forman,  two  sons  of 
Dr.  Forman,  were  the  chief  mourners.  Not  less  than  three  thou- 
sand persons  of  all  classes  and  creeds  followed  the  hearse.  Pun- 
dit Prem  Nath,  Examiner,  PubUc  Works  Department;  Pundit 
Amar  Nath,  retired  Extra  Assistant  Commissiixier ;  Babu  Gunda 
Mai,  and  many  other  old  pupils  of  Dr.  Forman  were  visibhr 
moved.  In  the  city  hundreds  joined  the  solemn  procession.  All 
differences  of  creed  and  colour  seemed  to  be  forgotten  for  the 
moment,  and  all  united  to  do  honour  to  the  memory  of  Hat  piotts 
deceased.  When  the  coffin  was  lowered  into  the  grave  there 
were  few  dry  eyes  in  the  vast  throng.  The  hearse  and  coflBn  were 
covered  with  wreaths  of  flowers,  which  were  placed  t^on  tfMm 
by  Hindus,  Mussuhnans,  and  Christians  alike. 

A  public  meeting  of  the  pupils,  friends,  and  admirers  of  Dr. 
Forman  was  held  in  the  Rang  Mahal  yesterday  evening.  Pundit 
Prem  Nath,  Examiner,  Public  ^orks  Department,  occupied  tfie 
chair.  Several  impressive  speeches  were  delivered  expressing  the 
sense  of  the  loss  sustained  by  the  community  by  the  death  of  the 
veteran  educationist  and  preacher  of  dw  tio^d.  Several  i)ro- 
posals  were  adopted  for  keeping  his  memory  green  in  the  Punjab. 
Another  great  meeting  will  be  held  on  Sunday. 

These  are  not  isolated  and  exceptional  cases.  The  mission- 
ary enterprise  everywl»re  is  itself  on!y  when  it  u  a  movement 
of  good-will  awl  hioMup.  It  is  in  Has  that  tiw  secret  of 
its  power  to  promote  peace  and  order  resides — i  power  greater, 
where  it  is  allowed  to  work,  than  any  other  power  the  West 
possesses.  "  I  have  relied,"  said  Sir  Peregrine  Maitland,  Gov- 
ernor of  Cape  Colony,  "  more  upon  the  labours  of  missionaries 
for  the  peaceful  government  of  the  natives  than  upon  the  pres- 
ence of  British  troops."  "For  the  preservation  of  peace  be- 
tween die  colonists  and  natives,"  said  General  Sir  Charles  War- 
ren, Governor  of  Natal,  "  one  missionary  is  worth  a  battalion 
of  soldiers."  "In  my  judgment,"  said  Sir  Augustus  Rivers 
Thompson,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Bengal,  "  Otristian  missiaii- 
aries  have  done  more  real  and  lasting  good  to  die  people  of 
India  than  all  other  agencies  combined.  They  have  been  the 
salt  of  the  country  and  the  true  savioors  of  die  empire." 

No  anan  part  of  dit  consenriag  worlc  die  rats^onary  hm 


3Ss        CHRISTIANnT  AND  THE  NATIONS 


done  hu  been  to  war  agmimt  the  hateful  forces  wtuji  are 

destructive  of  racial  as  well  as  individual  character,  and  tfius 
to  save  national  character  and  its  power  to  fulfil  its  mission. 
It  was  tiat  missionary  movement  that  checked  the  annihilating 
traffic  in  liqttor  in  Africa  and  the  Soudi  Seas,  and  stopped  tiie 
slave  trade.  What  success  in  the  anti-opium  campaign  has 
been  attained,  said  Mr.  Wong  at  the  reception  given  to  the 
members  of  die  International  Ofrimn  Coimnission  in  5«h^nghai 
on  February  3,  1909,  was  largely  due  to  missionaries.  In- 
directly, he  thought  the  Commission  would  draw  the  nations 
represented  closer  together,  as  nothing  drew  peoples  together 
more  than  united  action  for  a  rig^iteous  cause.  And  of  the 
service  of  the  missionary  movement  in  saving  a  whole  race,  a 
competent  witness  has  borne  testimony:  "The  Esquimaux 
are  all  Christians,"  said  Dr.  Grenfell  of  Labrador.  "The 
Moravian  missionarks  converted  them  long  ago.  In  general 
morality,  I  should  say,  that  they  rank  higher  than  most  Christian 
communities.  Christianity  is  a  saving  influence  with  them;  but 
for  it  I  am  sure  that  diey  would  have  been  extinct  long  ago 
from  the  vices  which  follow  trade."  It  may  be  said  that  such 
a  preservation  is  trivial,  that  these  marginal  races  have  no  con- 
tribution to  make  to  tiie  united  life  of  the  fomily  of  God.  The 
Christian  view  is  difftffent,  but  even  so,  if  we  are  to  let  these 
indifferent  races  alone,  it  must  be  on  fair  terms.  If  they  are 
to  be  denied  our  Gospel,  they  must  be  spared  also  our  lusts 
and  the  diseases  wUdi  we  have  never  hesitated  to  propagalt 
throughout  the  world. 

But  it  has  been  not  only  among  the  feeble  peoples  and  in 
the  destruction  of  tiie  predatory  forces  of  die  West  that  the 
missioaary  enterprise  has  made  its  contribution.  It  has  been 
doing  all  over  the  world  the  solid  work  at  the  base  of  the  new 
civilisation.  Mr.  McKinley  bore  witness  to  this  in  one  of  his 
last  addresses: 

I  am  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  offer  without  stint  my  tribute 
of  praise  and  respect  to  the  missionary  effort,  which  has  wrtnu^ 
•uch  wonderful  trhanphs  for  dvOisatioii.   The  stoiy  of  fliii 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


3i3 


Christian  Missions  is  one  of  thrilling  interest  and  marvellous 
results.  The  services  and  the  sacrifices  of  the  missionaries  for 
their  fellow -men  constitute  one  of  the  most  glorious  pages  of 
the  world's  history.  The  missionary,  of  whatever  Church  or 
ecclesiastical  body,  who  devotes  his  life  to  the  service  of  the 
Master  and  of  men,  carrying  die  torch  of  truth  and  enlightenment, 
deserves  the  gratitude,  the  support,  and  the  homage  of  mankind. 
The  noble,  :ielf-effacing,  willing  ministers  of  pe  .  ?  and  good- 
will should  be  chssed  with  the  world's  heroes. 

They  count  their  labour  no  sacrifice.  "  Away  with  the  word 
in  such  a  view  and  with  such  a  thought,"  says  David  Livingstone ; 
"it  is  emphatically  no  sacrifice;  say,  rather,  it  is  a  privilege." 
They  furnish  us  examples  of  forbearance,  fortitude,  of  patience, 
and  unyielding  purpose,  and  of  spirit  which  triumphs  not  If  the 
force  of  might,  but  Ly  the  persuasive  majesty  of  right. 

Who  can  estimate  their  value  to  the  progress  of  nations? 
Their  contribution  to  the  onward  and  upward  march  of  htuianiQr 
is  beyond  all  calculation.  They  have  inculcated  industry  and 
taught  the  various  trades.  They  have  prompted  concord  and 
amity,  and  brought  nations  and  races  closer  together.  They  have 
made  men  better.  They  have  increased  the  regard  for  home; 
have  strengthened  the  sacred  ties  of  familv ;  have  made  tint  com- 
munity well-ordered,  and  their  work  has  been  a  potent  influence 
in  the  development  of  law  and  the  establishment  of  government— 
(Report  of  Ecumenical  Cmiference  on  Foreign  Missions,  Vol  I, 
p.  39*.) 

And  one  who  through  tragic  experiences  i  .  le  to  know 
tiie  nusstonary  and  his  nus^  wdl,  the  tote  American  Mkiister 
to  China,  Mr.  Conger,  in  an  address  not  long  before  his  death, 
bore  his  authoritative  testimony  : 

For  seven  years  I  was  most  intimately  associated  with  the 
American  missionaries  in  Quna,  and  I  take  genuine  pleasure  and 
pride  m  certifying  to  all  the  wwld,  and  partKularly  to  those 
who  support  and  stand  behind  them,  that  they  are  a  body  of  men 
and  women  who,  measured  by  the  good  they  do,  by  the  sacrifices 
they  make,  the  trials  they  endure,  and  the  risks  they  take,  are 
veritable  heroes,  whose  absolutely  unselfish  devotion  to  humanity 
is  surpassed  nowhere  on  the  face  of  die  earth.  They  are  the 
pioneers  in  all  that  land.  They  are  invariably  the  forerunners 
and  forebears  of  all  that  is  best  in  Western  civilisation.  It  is 
tfaqr  who,  armed  only  wfth  the  Bible  and  with  tdnol-teein*  and 


384        CHRimANrnf  AND  THE  NATIONS 

ber,  1906.) 

In  these  and  deeper  ways  the  missionary  movement  has  be 
a  great  constructive  and  conciUatory  power. 

%  In  the  third  place.  Christianity  m  the  miss.onanr  ent 
prisi  introduces  the  new  principles  f^^"),  ^1*°"*  J.^^  ' 
TOt  found  in  the  non-Christian  nations,  and  without  wtadi  H 
ZTl.  their  true  place  or  fulfil  their  «i«ion.  or  be  re. 
Z  hum«i  unity.  The  m«-Christian  nations  are  eahsmg  t 
they  do  not  have  these  principles  and  must  find  ttiem^  So 
seek  them  in  a  reinterpretation  of  their  ancient  orade.,  sc 
StheTular  instructkm,  of  the  West.  But  the  Readers  kr 
that  they  are  winting  and  must  be  found.  \^f"J^ 
ne  "  said  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda.  at  the  Indian  National  So 
cLerence  in  his  inaugural  addre«i  ta  "  it  matters  « 
^  where  the  truth  comes  from.  If  t  serves  a  national  pur^ 
oThelps  national  ends,  then  it  is  national,  whether  U«  f orn 
which  we  find  it  is  modem  or  Vedic.  Europ«n  or  puwly  I«kI 
Ind  w^  must  be  eager  to  find  the  knowledge  and  apply 
whether  it  has  the  sanction  of  the  older  ideas  or  not.  We  \ 
^  l^k  forward  to  the  future  of  India;  we  -e  not^ 
revive  the  past.  .  .  .  What  we  need  mm  it  action-<om« 
JTii  pnXl  measures,  and  not  diKimion  as  to  whether 
or  that  reform  is  justified  by  older  traditions  orti^  sa 
writings  of  our  ancestors.  ...  We  must  not  only  accep^  to 
IS  Stellectually.  but  have  the  moral  courage  to  aUer 

S^Sd  citti.  in  .ccord«»ce.  OtherwiR.  our  knowl 


MISSIONS  AND  UNIXy 


sSs 


rage,  have 
se  Empire, 
ior  the  on- 
iwed  them, 
e  of  Peace 

and  trade. 

them  with 
great  high- 
lined  with 

heretofore 

for  wheel- 
M,  Novem- 


Dt  has  been 

nary  enter- 
which  are 
whidi  they 
or  be  ready 
;alising  that 
lem.  Some 
mdes;  some 
;aders  know 
latters  noth- 
tional  Socbl 
latters  notii- 
onal  purpose 
the  form  in 
itrely  Indian, 
nd  apply  it, 
>t.  We  have 
not  going  to 
)n — common- 
whether  this 
r  the  sacred 
tcGCpt  knowl- 
to  alter  our 
K  knowledge 


is  of  little  use;  for  the  true  test  of  knowledge  is  its  prMtaal 
utility  in  equipping  the  society  for  the  actod  |wM«is  of  Hfc. 
If  then,  our  customs  put  us  at  a  disadvantage  m  the  struggle 
of  life,  it  is  useless  to  persist  in  them  merely 
are  our  own  or  old."  Now,  these  new  principles  for  ^»gch  ft* 
nations  are  feeling  have  their  origin  and  their  ftdl  hfe  oidy 
in  the  missionary  interpretation  of  Christianity. 

It  alone  fits  men  for  freedom,  by  teaching  them  self-contrrt 
in  liberty,  and  making  them  fearless  foltowers  of  the  truth  which 
makes  men  ft«e.   These  two  great  gifts  of  the  Gospel— trutii 
and  freedom— are  the  needs  of  the  non-Christian  peoples.  On 
his  return  from  his  recent  visit  to  Europe  and  America,  ft* 
Gaekwar  of  Baroda  pointed  out  their  needs  in  a  notable  address 
to  the  Indian  Industrial  Conference  in  Calcutta:  "The  mort 
frequent  criticism  offered  against  us  as  a  people  by  andid 
critics  is  that  we  are  disunited,  many-minded,  and  iacapaWe  of 
unselfish  co-operation  for  national  ends.  ...  The  atmosphere 
of  the  West  is  throbbing  with  vigorous  mental  Ufe.  T^""^" 
suit  of  new  truth  is  the  first  concern  of  every  stalwart  of 
the  West,  white  the  mass  of  our  people  are  content  to  live 
stolid.  conventioBal  lives,  blindly  following  the  precepts  of  the 
fathers  rather  than  emulating  the  example  they  set  by  »nteUectiMl 
independence  and  constructhre  energy.-  One  of  the  best  Iricn^ 
and  truest  servants  India  ever  had,  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes,  told 
her  where  she  could  have  her  needs  met.  "  Till  India  is  leavmed 
with  Christianity,"  he  said  in  an  address  on  "  Our  Into  Em- 
pire" in  Mandiester  in  i860,  "she  will  be  unfit  for  freedwn. 
When  India  is  leavened  with  Christianity  she  will  be  unfit  for 
any  form  of  slavery,  however  mild.   England  «*y  ^J«»^* 
her,  with  an  overthrown  idolatry  and  a  true  fiift  bmR  up; 
wift  devetoped  resources ;  and  with  an  enlightened  and  awak- 
ened people,  no  longer  isolated  in  the  East,  but  Mn^ed  jnft 
the  civilised  races  of  the  West"  A  modem  student  and  frteid 
of  India  has  told  her  ft*  same  thtog,  and  ft*  principle  which 
he  sets  forft  is  trot  of  all  the  true  life  and  true  freedom  of  the 
worid.    "The  one  essential,"  says  Bishop  Lefroy,  "without 
which  any  hope  of  su^h  in4epeiidenc«  and  laffer  nainm  m 


386        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


appears  an  empty  dream,  is  the  infusion  of  a  spirit  both  of 
unity  and  of  vigoroas,  h«dthy,  new  Hfe,  of  whtdi  as  yet  tlwre 

is  but  the  barest  commencement  in  India,  and  which,  as  I 
believe,  can  be  looked  for  from  nowhere  except  from  the  spread 
of  Christianity  in  the  land." — (Charge  to  Clergy,  November  6, 
1906,  p.  23.) 

These  nations  need  Christianity  to  fit  men  for  freedom. 
They  need  it  also  to  teach  men  service,  which  is  the  divine  end 
of  freedom.  Until  men  are  unselfish  freedom  is  only  an  en- 
larged opportunity  for  action  hostile  to  human  unity.  And 
Christianity,  uttering  itself  through  one  channel  or  another,  can 
alone  teach  the  nations  this  law  of  ministry,  which  is  a  new 
prindpie  to  the  non-Christian  peofdes.  An  article  in  an  In- 
dian paper,  "  The  United  India  and  Native  States "  (November 
14,  1908),  is  a  candid  acknowledgment  of  this: 

This  kind  of  public  spirit  is  entirely  a  Western  product. 
India  has  known  from  time  immemorial  the  virtue  of  charity, 
especially  of  ^e  pious  kind,  but  public  spirit  is  very  different 
from  charity.  The  underlying  principle  of  puUic  ^trit  is  that 
the  best  and  surest  way  of  raising  tiie  individual  is  to  raise 
the  society  of  which  he  is  a  member.  Charity,  on  the  other  hand, 
looks  to  the  individual  and  is  not  infrequently  exercised  regard- 
less of  its  effect  on  the  community  as  a  whoM.  Tht  individtttl- 
istic  conception  of  religious  life  in  India  was  not  favourable 
to  the  growth  of  public  spirit.  The  socialistic  conceptim  of 
Christianity,  to  which  the  West  owes  all  that  is  most  vital  in  its 
civilisation,  may  be  regarded  as  the  parent  of  public  spirit  Sacri- 
fice as  a  means  of  self -development  is  at  the  root  of  Indian  culture 
and  civilisation.  Protestant  Christianity,  claiming  rigfatty  w 
wrongly  to  be  the  true  interpreter  of  Christ's  teaching,  has 
definitely  abandoned  sacrifice  m  favour  of  service  as  the  true 
means  of  individual  development.  India  has  not  accepted  Chris- 
tianity, but  it  has  accepted  its  central  doctrine  of  Service  as 
being  of  superior  national  efficacy  to  its  anctoit  principle  of 
Sacrifice.  This  momentous  change  has  been  effected  tiirotigfa 
the  medium  of  English  education;  and  to  the  mind  which  sees 
history  only  as  the  process  of  man's  moral  and  spiritual  evolu- 
tion, the  task  of  England  in  India  would  seem  to  be  finished 
when— and  not  until— the  theoretical  acceptance  of  the  principle 
of  Service  by  the  best  minds  of  the  country  hu  found  txpttmaa 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


3»7 


in  the  structure  of  its  social  and  national  life.  A  thousand  sedi- 
tious and  anarchical  movements  cannot  hasten  the  arrival  of 
that  time  by  a  single  hour,  a  hundred  thousand  repressive  laws 
will  not  delay  its  advent  by  a  sin^e  minute.  All  these  are  "  but 
trouble  of  ants  in  a  million  of  stms."  Eadi  race  has  as  its 
appointed  task  the  uplifting  of  another  race  than  itself.  Its 
strength,  its  wisdom,  its  power,  are  all  lent  to  it  for  that  purpose 
and  are  withdrawn  from  it  when  they  cease  to  fulfil  it.  Tht  rise, 
growth,  and  decay  of  empires  from  this  point  of  view  are  full 
of  practical  lessons  to  mankind.  The  gift  of  England  to  India 
is  the  princiide  of  Service,  of  pnblk  ^rit,  of  f»3nn«ifw«, 

Furtfaennore,  it  is  the  mlsskmary  amstractkm  of  Oiristianity 
which  must  give  the  world  the  principle  of  equality  of  man  and 
woman,  of  man  and  man.  The  non-Christian  principles  of  class 
and  sex  inequality  have  mied  the  whole  world  except  as  Christ 
has  changed  it.  The  conditions  which  in  one  degree  or  another 
have  prevailed  throughout  the  worid,  and  the  protest  which  the 
Christian  spirit  has  awakened  against  them,— for  all  the  protest 
h  s  come  from  that  spirit,— are  set  forth  by  the  Gadcwar  of 
Baroda,  who  is  not  a  Christian,  in  one  of  the  addresws  from 
which  I  have  already  quoted: 

Let  us  now  examine  our  two  great  problems — caste  and  the 
status  of  women— in  more  detail,  endeavouring  to  understand 
what  they  are  at  present,  what  are  the  defects  which  they  impose 
on  the  society,  and  what  is  the  reality  whkh  they  cooceu  «r 
obscure. 

The  evils  of  caste  cover  the  whole  range  of  social  life.  It 
hampers  the  life  of  the  individual  with  a  vast  number  of  petty 
rules  and  observances  which  have  no  meaning.  It  cripples  him 
in  his  relations  with  his  family,  in  his  marriage,  in  the  education 
of  his  children,  and  especially  in  his  Kfe.  It  wodcens  the  eco- 
nomic position  by  attempting  to  confine  him  to  particular  trades, 
by  preventing  him  from  learning  the  culture  of  the  West,  and 
by  giving  him  an  exaggerated  view  of  his  knowledge  and  im- 
portance. It  cripples  his  professional  life  by  increasing  distrust, 
treachery,  and  jealousy,  hampering  a  free  use  of  others'  abilities, 
and  ruins  his  social  life  by  increasing  exdusiveness,  restricting 
the  opportunities  of  social  intercourse,  and  preventing  that  in- 
tellectual development  on  which  the  prosperity  of  any  class  most 
depends.   In  the  wider  ^heres  of  life,  In  tntmiyipti  ipqj 


388 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 


afiFairs,  it  destroys  all  hope  of  local  patriotism,  of  work  for  the 
common  good,  by  thrusting  forward  the  interest  of  the  caste  as 
om)osed  to  those  of  the  conummitj^  and  by  making  combfaied 
efforts  for  the  common  good  exceedingly  difficult.  But  its  most 
serious  offence  is  its  effect  on  national  life  and  national  unity. 
It  intensifies  local  dissensions  and  diverse  interests,  and  obscures 
great  national  ideals  and  interests,  which  should  be  those  of  every 
caste  and  people,  and  renders  the  country  disunited  and  in- 
capable of  improving  its  defects  or  of  availin^^  itself  of  the 
advantages  which  it  should  gain  from  contact  with  the  civilisa- 
tion of  the  West.  It  robs  us  of  our  humanity  by  insisting  on 
the  degradation  of  some  of  our  fellow-men  who  are  separated 
from  us  by  no  more  than  accident  of  birth.  It  prevents  the 
noble  and  charitable  impulses  which  have  done  so  much  for  the 
improvement  and  mutual  benefit  of  European  society.  It  pre- 
vents our  making  the  most  of  all  the  various  abilities  of  our 
diverse  communities;  it  diminishes  all  our  emotional  activities 
and  intellectoal  resources.  Again,  it  is  the  most  conservative 
element  in  our  society  and  tfie  steady  enemy  to  all  reform. 
Every  reformer  who  has  endeavoured  to  secure  the  advance  of 
our  society^  has  been  driven  out  of  it  by  the  operation  of  caste. 
By  this  rigidity,  it  preserves  ignorant  superstitions  and  dings 
to  the  past,  while  it  aoe%  nothing  to  make  those  inevitaUe  changes 
which  nature  is  ever  pressing  <m  us  more  easy  and  more  poe> 
siUe.  .  .  . 

It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  dwell  upon  all  those  familiar 
questions  which  cluster  -  around  the  question  of  the  status  of 
women.  I  would  merely  point  out  that  what  we  may  most 
ltt;itimately  object  against  each  is  that  they  involve  a  bad  economy 
of  social  forces. 

Early  marriage,  especially  now  that  the  checks  on  early  con- 
summation are  breaking  down,  must  increase  death  and  disease 
among  the  mothers,  swell  infant  mortality,  and  faijure  the  phy- 
skiue  of  the  race.  It  interferes,  also,  with  the  proper  edtw^ioa 
of  women. 

A  too  strict  purdah  mutilates  social  life  and  makes  its  current 
dull  and  sluggish  by  excluding  the  brightening  influence  of 
women. 

By  the  denial  of  education  to  women  we  (teprive  oursetyet 
of  half  the  potential  force  of  the  nation,  deny  to  our  children 
the  advan'^age  of  having  cultured  mothers,  and  by  stunting  the 
faculties  of  the  mother  affect  injuriously  the  heredity  of  the 
race.  We  create,  moreover,  a  gulf  of  mental  division  in  the 
borne,  and  put  t  powerful  drag  on  progrm  by  nwUng  the 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITY 


389 


women  a  great  conservative  force  that  c&igi  to  eveiyttkif  dd, 
bowever  oittwoni  or  irrational.  .  .  . 

The  odstence,  side  by  side,  of  custonrs  like  polygamy  and 
the  prohibition  of  widow  remarriage  similarly  shows  a  bad  or- 
ganisation of  society.  The  one  keeps  up  an  unduly  low  standard 
of  morality  among  men,  the  other  demands  an  impMsib^ 
standard  from  women.  To  enf<m:e  the  standard  we  mspgrtu 
our  feelii^s  of  hmmurity  and  affecticxi  and  inflict  severities  upon 
widows  in  order  to  keep  their  vitality  low  and  make  them  less 
attractive;  yet  the  impossibility  remains,  and  f.ie  laws  of  nature 
we  have  ignored  avenge  themselves;  for,  in  spite  of  our  harsh 
measures,  we  fail  to  preserve  even  an  (wdtnary  standard  of 
morality  in  this  nrach  ul-treated  chss. 

Vve  should,  however,  realise  wii<:re  the  evil  lies.  It  is  in  me 
lowering  of  our  ideas  about  women  and  the  relation  of  the 
sexes.— (Report  of  Indian  Nattooal  Social  Confmac^  «t  Bon- 
bay,  1904.) 

These  are  needs  which  must  come  to  Christianity  tiitir 

supply. 

And  one  odier  (mnciple  which  die  Christian  ideal  hat  to  con- 
tribute from  without  is  the  ideal  of  a  time  nationalism.  "The 
very  idea  of  nationality  has  come  to  the  educated  mind  of  India 
uncter  Ae  auspices  of  Christianity;  it  has  been  undoubtedly 
quickened  by  the  unconscious  assimilation  of  ideas  and  prin- 
ciples essentially  Christian.  Split  up  hitherto  into  a  number  of 
separate  and  conflicting  races  and  castes,  a  corporate  life  is 
now  beginning  to  stir." — (Slates,  "Misnons  and  Socicdagy,'* 
p.  14.)  It  is  Christianity  and  the  Christian  principles  embodied, 
wiUi  whatever  obscuration,  in  British  rule  in  India,  which  have 
created  tiiis  stir.ing  and  given  it  At  life  of  hope.  And  tiirot^h- 
out  the  world  the  missionary  movement  as  we  have  sought  to  set 
it  forth  has  been  one  of  the  great  educative  ideas,  and  is  the 
true  norm  and  illumination  of  tiie  Christian  nationalism  wh'-  h 
is  tiw  divfaie  princ^  of  ^  next  ^age  in  the  devdopmatt  of 
humanity. 

4.  And  Christianity  not  only  introduces  from  without  the 
principles  required  for  the  devetopment  and  unity  of  humanity, 
but  it  presents  in  doing  so  the  only  possible  method  of  achieving 
unity.  It  dcab  directly  with  the  kdividual  and  aovta  ugm  Ml 


390       CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

personality  and  w91,  and  so  rests  the  new  momnait  where  alone 

it  can  stably  rest,  upon  the  redeemed  character  of  persons.  '  The 
mightiest  civilising  agencies,"  says  Dr.  FairiMuni,  "  are  perscms. 
The  mtgfatiest  civilising  pers<ns  are  Christian  men."  And  it 
an>eals  through  the  mind  and  heart  of  Hts  individual  to  the 
reason  of  the  world.  "If  our  people  are  ever  to  be  moved," 
says  Mr.  Dickinson's  Chinese  official,  "their  reason  and  their 
hart  must  be  conviiKcd." — ("  Letters  from  a  Chinese  OflSdal," 
p.  42.)  That  is  true  of  all  the  peoples,  and  that  is  the  method, 
and  the  only  method  of  the  missionary  enterprise.  It  is  speak- 
ing to  the  reason  and  the  heart  of  nations.  By  the  purely  per- 
suasive agencies  which  it  uses,  the  voice  of  the  friend,  the  steady 
upheaving  transformation  of  the  school,  the  tenderness  of  sym- 
pathy in  suffering,  by  dissolving  prejudice  and  incarnating  the 
truth  of  htmian  oneness,  it  is  ccmvindng  tiie  world's  reason,  even 
when  it  is  unaware,  and  has  already  penetrated  every  nation 
and  permeated  some  with  the  principles  by  which  the  people  are 
to  fulfil  their  separate  destinies  and  attain  their  heavenly  ordered 
unity  at  the  last 

5.  Yet  once  more,  the  missionary  work  of  Christianity  is 
essential  and  effective  because  it  provides  the  adequate  moral 
basis  whid)  is  necessary  for  the  Kfe  and  institutions  of  ttm 
peoples.  All  the  non-Christian  peoples  have  lacked  the  moral 
basis  of  a  national  life.  The  Chinese  have  come  nearest  to  pos- 
sessing it,  and  what  was  strong  in  China's  neighbouring  naticms 
was  borrowed  from  the  Chinese,  but  even  there  the  want  of 
what  is  el'"mentary  in  Christianity  deprived  the  Chinese  people 
of  the  central  power  of  a  great  nationality.  As  the  foreigner 
wrote,  who  knew  the  natiMi  as  well  as  any  for^ner  has  ever 
known  it: 

Even  among  a  people  like  the  Chinese,  who  are  possessed  of 
the  conveniences  of  life  and  held  together  by  an  organised  gov- 
ernment founded  on  the  consent  of  all  classes,  the  want  of  truth 
and  integrity  weakens  every  part  of  the  social  fabric.  Moral 
ethks,  enforcing  the  social  rebtions,  the  rights  and  duties  of  the 
rulers  and  nded,  «id  tiie  inculcation  of  the  five  constant  virtues 
lavt  been  taught  in  Qiina  for  twei^fivc  ctntuiiat,  tad  yil 


MISSIONS  AND  UNITT 


391 


have  failed  to  teach  Uie  perale  to  be  truthful.  They  never  can 
do  it,  for  they  have  no  aanctxms  calculated  to  influence  the  mind 
and  strengthen  it  to  resist  temf^tion.  ...  But  untfl  trutii  be- 
comes even  here  the  basis  of  society,  so  that  a  man  sinks  in  the 
estimation  of  his  fellows  if  caught  in  a  falsehood,  and  is  afraid 
to  lie  because  he  will  be  despised,  the  Chinese  must  remain  far 
below  any  Christian  nation.  They  cannot  progress  in  civilisation 
until  they  becone  trudiful.  No  corporate  bodies  formed  among 
them  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  great  plans  of  improve- 
ment can  cohere  in  consequence  of  this  inherent  weakness,  be- 
cause no  sut»cribers  will  trust  their  money  to  such  a  company. 
No  insurance  coaq>any  can  obtain  the  confidence  of  the  com- 
munity ;  no  trust  company  can  succeed,  let  it  promise  evCT  so 
much.  If  the  government  issues  coin  it  is  taken  for  its  intrinsic 
worth,  like  bullion,  because  it  is  so  tampered  with  as  to  lose  its 
nominal  value;  and  the  case  is  still  worse  with  its  bonds, — so 
that  China  aknu^  of  all  the  natitms  of  the  earth,  has  even  now 
no  national  silver  or  gold  coin,  and  no  bank  UOs,  the  only  cur- 
rency being  a  miserable  copper-iron  coin,  so  debased  as  not  to 
pay  counterfeiters  to  imitate  it.  .  .  .  Truth  alone  is  the  proper 
aliment  for  the  mind;  on  it  alone  ran  all  the  faculties  zc<p\rc 
their  full  development.— (S.  Weus  \\' ujams,  "The  Middle 
Kingdom,"  Vol.  I,  p.  352  «•) 

And  so  of  every  nation.  Its  deepest  needs  are  the  moral 
needs,  which  must  be  met  before  the  people  can  be  free  to 
fulfil  their  divinely  ordered  ends.  "It  is  tne  moral  sense  of 
the  people  that  has  to  be  elevated,"  says  a  Hindu  writer  of 
his  own  nation.  (Jwala  Dass  in  the  Hindustan  Review.  See 
The  Lilewy  Digest,  February  1-,  1908,  p.  220.)  And  both 
in  the  nation  in  its  needs,  and  among  the  nations  in  their  rela- 
tions, Christianity,  and  Christianity  alone,  can  furnish  the  in- 
dispensable foundation.  It  is  in  Christiairity  and  its  prindples, 
which  men  cannot  permanently  separate  from  their  historic 
origin  in  it  and  their  organic  connection  with  it,  that  the  moral 
basis  of  true  nationalism  and  of  true  universalism  is  to  be  found. 
"Upon  her  perpetuation  m  the  civilised  world,"  says  Bishop 
Brent,  speaking  of  the  Christian  Church  in  which  Christianity 
prosecutes  her  central  mission  among  men,  "  depends  the  main- 
tenance of  common  morality,  not  to  mwition  nond  rrfntmnitat 
the  achievement  of  cv«n  that  moderate  m-^m*  in  chanelBr* 


39a        CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NATIONS 

building  which  marks  the  pathway  of  Christian  history,  that 
buoyancy  of  hope  which  casts  upon  the  harsh  disciplines  of  life 
mnedkiiy  ddn  to  transfiguring  radiancy.  Upon  her  extemion 
to  every  comer  of  the  world  that  is  ignorant  of  the  tnitii,  as 
made  known  in  the  good  news  of  the  Saviour's  message,  hinges 
the  consununatioa  of  God's  beneficent  purposes  for  the  human 
race,  the  fuU  knowledge  of  Christ's  personality  by  men,  and 
that  unification  of  the  nations  of  the  world  which  has  ever  been 
the  dream  of  philosophers,  the  labour  of  philanthropists,  and  the 
imyer  of  the  saints." 

6.  And  lastly,  the  missionary  movement  embodies  the  one 
supreme  uniting  power.  Within  each  nation  for  the  perfect 
devd^nnent  of  its  character  and  for  the  faithful  f ulfihnent  of 
its  mission  there  must  be  some  adequate  unifying  bond.  The 
bond  must  relate  men  in  their  deepest  life,  in  the  foundations 
of  their  principles,  in  the  fountains  of  their  ideals,  in  their 
eternal  hopes.  Only  a  common  religion  can  supply  that  bond. 
"  Any  one  realising  the  importance  attached  to  religion  in  Asia," 
says  Arminius  Vambery,  "  will  easily  understand  how  impossible 
it  is  to  bridge  over  [politically]  the  gulf  which  separates  the 
professors  of  these  various  beliefs  in  India.  ReUgim  absorbs 
the  interest  of  the  Asiatic;  it  is  stronger  than  his  feeling  of 
nationality."~("  Western  Culture  in  Eastern  Lands,"  Ch.  II.) 
When  any  land  is  torn  by  religicMu  and  racial  division,  as  Dr. 
Ghose  remin  'ed  the  Surat  Section  of  the  Indian  National  Qm- 
gress  of  1907,  after  the  unhappy  division  of  the  Congress,  it 
cannot  realise  the  unity  of  its  character  or  its  destiny.  It  was 
the  missionary  movement  in  Christianity  whidi  furnished  tiie 
Roman  Empire  with  this  essential  bond,  and  in  his  discernment 
of  the  power  and  duty  of  Christianity  thus  to  unite  men,  Pro- 
fessor Ramsay  has  marked  the  supreme  statesmanship  of  St. 
Ptttl: 

In  the  mind  of  the  ancients  no  unkm  of  men,  small  or  great, 
good  or  bad,  humble  or  honourable,  was  conceivable  without 
a  rdtgiwM  bond  to  hold  it  tc^ether.  The  Roman  Empire,  if  it 
was  to  become  an  organic  unity,  must  derive  its  vitality  and  its 
hold  on  men's  minds  from  some  religious  bond.  Patriotism,  to 


lilSSIONS  AND  UNITY 


393 


Ae  ancients,  was  adherence  to  a  common  religion,  just  as  the 
family  tie  was,  not  common  blood,  but  commumon  in  the  family 
religion  (for  the  adopted  son  was  as  real  a  member  as  the  son 
fay  nature).  Accordingly,  when  Augustus  essaved  tiie  great  task 
of  consdidating  tiie  loosely  aggregated  parte  of  tiw  vait  Emfin, 
he  had  to  find  a  religion  to  consecrate  the  unity  by  a  common 
idea  and  sentiment  The  existing  religions  were  all  national, 
while  the  Empire  (as  we  saw)  was  striving  to  extirpate  the 
national  divisKms  ud  create  a  stq;>n-iiatioaal  unity.  A  new 
region  was  needed.  Pferdy  wMi  consdoas  {ntention,  partly 
oome  unconsciously  on  the  tide  of  events,  the  young  &npire 
created  tiie  Imperial  religion,  the  worship  of  an  idea — the  cult 
of  Majesty  of  Rome,  as  represented  by  the  incarnate  deity 
present  on  earth  in  the  person  of  the  reigning  Emperor,  and 
by  the  dead  gods,  his  deified  predecesaoni  on  tiw  tfirone.  Excqit 
for  the  slavish  adulation  of  the  living  Emperor,  the  idea  was  not 
devoid  of  nobility;  but  it  was  incapable  of  life,  for  it  degraded 
human  nature,  and  was  founded  on  a  lie.  But  Paul  gave  the 
Bmpire  a  more  serviceable  idea.  He  made  possiUe  that  unity 
at  which  the  imperial  policy  was  aimhicr.  Hie  true  path  of  die 
Empire  lay  in  allowing  free  play  to  the  idea  which  Paul  oflFered, 
and  strengthening  itseli  through  this  unifying  religion.  That 
principle  of  perfect  religious  freedom  (which  we  regard  as 
Seneca's)  directed  for  a  time  the  imperial  pdicy,  and  caused 
the  acquittal  of  Paul  on  his  first  trial  in  Rome.  But  freedom  ynn 
soon  exchanged  for  the  policy  of  fire  and  sword.  The  imperial 

gds  would  not  give  place  to  a  more  real  religion,  and  fought 
r  two  and  a  half  centuries  to  maintain  their  sham  worship 
against  it.  When  at  last  the  idea  of  Paul  was,  even  reluctantly 
and  imperfectly,  accepted  by  the  Emperors,  no  longer  daimhv 
to  be  gods,  it  gave  new  life  to  the  rapidly  perishing  organisation 
of  the  &npire  and  conquered  the  triumphant  barbarian  enemy. 
Had  it  not  been  for  Paul— if  one  may  guess  at  what  might  have 
been  no  nan  would  now  remember  the  R(mian  ami  Greek 
civilisation.  Barbarian  proved  too  powerful  for  die  Gtkoo- 
Roman  civilisation  unaided  b^  the  new  religious  bond ;  and  every 
channel  through  which  that  civilisation  was  preserved,  or  intemt 
in  it  maintained,  either  is  now  or  has  been  in  some  essential  part 
of  its  course  Christian  after  the  Pauline  form.— (Ramsay, 
"Panlhw  and  Other  Studies,"  p.  99.) 

Tiie  task  which  St.  Paul  performed  for  the  Roman  Empire 
we  have  now  to  perform  for  die  world,  and  in  a  more  compli- 
cated §om,  tmt  ft  torn  tor  whkh  Chrittiamty  ii  enttr^  •tk* 


394        CHRISTIANITYi  AND  THE  NATIONS 


quate.  We  have  to  locate  Christianity  in  the  life  of  each  sepa- 
rate nation  for  the  perfection  of  its  national  character  and  the 
accooqidishinent  of  its  national  destiny,  and  we  have  to  set  it 
in  the  whole  life  of  the  wmid  so  as  to  bind  into  one  cadi  per- 
fected  nationality  and  to  cement  and  complete  with  its  unity  the 
whole  varied  life  of  mankind.  This  is  the  work  that  must  now 
be  done,  and  wl^  Christtantty  akme  can  do.  The  privily  of 
it  is  ours  who  believe  that  God  has  made  of  one  blood  all  the 
nations  of  men,  and  has  appointed  to  each  the  bounds  of  its 
habitation  and  the  glory  of  its  own  distinct  mission,  and  has 
also  given  them  in  the  Gospel  of  His  Son  that  conunon  Ufe  pro- 
vided for  all  mankind,  wherein  there  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew, 
circumcision  nor  uncircumcision,  barbarian,  Scythian,  lvw?^f«fl«f 
nor  freeman,  but  Christ  is  all  and  in  aU. 


7BB  BHD 


INDEX 


Aberdeen,  Earl  of,  229 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  184 

Africa,  Native  Races  Committee, 

120,  121,  147-149 
Africa,  present  needi  of,  44 
Albany,  Bishop  of,  39 
Ali  lUahees,  302 

American  Jmmmi  «/  Thtology,  The, 

279 

Amherst,  Lord,  190 

Ancestor  worship,  157 

Anderson,  D.  L.,  263,  261^ 

Anglican  Bishops  in  India,  encycli- 
cal of,  334;  conference  of,  344 

Arminian  and  Calvinistic  theologies 
commingled,  336,  337 

Armstrong,  General  S.  C,  328,  33° 

Arrow  War,  216 

Arya  Samaj,  254,  309.  3I4  ^ 

Aacetktmi  ta  nuuions,  85-88 

Ashiwtfe.  Williwn.  250,  376 

Banerji,  K.  M.,  164 
Banurji,  Kali  Charan,  140 
Baptism,  place  of,  154-156 
Baptist  Missionary  Review,  The, 

158.  352 
Barber,  on  David  Hill,  82-85 
Baroda,  Gaekwar  of,  384.  38s  387 
Barrows,  John  H.,  ^84,  295 
Barton,  James  L.,  186,  230,  2^2 
Basle  Missionary  Society,  160 
Baxter,  William  E.,  t86 
Bayard,  Thomas  F.,  205 
Bechuanaland.  189 
Begg,  A.  Paton,  139 
Behaism,  258 

Benson,  Archbishop,  21, 291, 323, 33^ 
Bentinck,  Lord  William,  270 
Bergen,  Paul  D.,  224 
Berthollet,  179 
Berthoud,  32 

Bcnat.  Mtt.  Anfab  346^  a73>  306 


Bickersteth,  306 
Blunt,  Scawen,  245 
Boniface,  201,  323 
Booth,  General  William,  97 
Bradford.  A.  H.,  286 
Brahmo  Samaj,  164,  254,  317 
Brent,  Bishop,  189,  355.  362,  391 
Bridgman,  F.  B.,  148,  190 
Brooks,  Phillips,  20,  294.  295 
Brooks,  Wilmot,  207 
Brotherhood  of  Man,  279,  aBa 
Brown.  A.  147 
Brown,  Dr.  Aknnder,  46 
Brussels  Conference,  189,  193 
Bryce,  the  Hon.  James,  27 
BaddUsm,  aso^  aS3.  aOOk  its, 

a67.  a«  ^  aTfl;  aBi.  aBa,  a«|. 

JH,  3t6im9,  aa^  aga,  ags,  310 
Bmddhut.  The,  a6B 

Calcutu  Missionary  Ccmfcrawc^  laB 
Caldwell.  Bisbopb  IS4 
Gspe  Town.  Coadjator  Biabop 
148 

Carey,  34    ,  „ 
Caste,  157-160,  387 
Chalmers,  James,  248 
Chalmers,  Thomas,  aj 
Chapman,  George,  340 
Charlton,  I.  W.,  I39 
Chatterjee,  313 

China,  railroads,  42;  post  office,  43; 

treaty  with  U.  S.,  204,  216,  225 
China  Centenary  Conference,  96, 97, 

222,  334,  341 
China  Inland  Mission,  212 
Chittafs  Young  Men,  224 
Chinese  Recorder,  The,  135,  289 
Christian  Express,  The,  373 
Christian  Unity,  Edinburgh  Confer- 
ence on,  340;  in  Japan,  340,  345> 
347.  350.  353;  in  China,  341,  3^7, 
3So;  in  India,  351;  ta  the  Philip- 
pines, 342.  347 
Chrifttikb,  Max.  agp 


:v6 


INDEX 


Chrittlieb,  ProfcMor  Thcoiktf.  130 
dmitii  a  Mianoaary  Sockty. 

Churchman.  The,  235 

Church  MiMionary  Society,  The, 

»«.  193 
Church  of  Scotland,  23,  igj 
Civilization  and  MiarioM,  3S-39k  7& 

107.  185-IM 
Clarendon,  Earl  of,  52,  2A  300 
Claric  H.  Martyn,       ^  ^ 
Oark.  Robert.  132,  187 
Clartce,  Waiiam  Newton,  aSs,  aBo, 
^391,307  ^ 
Cochran,  Dr.  J.  P.,  270 
Coillard,  147 
Colquhoun,  lat 
Columba,  am 

Confucianiam,  a60k  afii,  a^,  364. 276^ 

378,  a^  393 
Conger,  383 

Congregational  Deputation  to 

China,  2ig 
Consular  Reports,  American.  35,  36 
Contemporary  Review,  Tk*,6f 
Coolidge,  202,  203 
Cooperation  in  Missions,  348 
Craik,  Sir  Henry,  98 
Cromer,  37 
Cushing,  Caleb,  190 
Cuat,  85,  go,  107,  iti'  197.  3?3 

Dana,  Richard  H.,  184 

Dass,  Lall  Bihary,  158,  159 

Datta,  164,  165.  166,  a66 

Davis,  J.  C.  B.,  215 

Day,  14s 

Denby,  192 

Dennis,  184,  290,  302 

Dfaaram  Sindhu,  271 

Dhnnda,  271 

Dicey,  Edward.  365 

Dickinson's  "  Chinese  OffidaL"  a34. 

„36s.366,  3go  ^ 

Dnyanodaiya,  271 

Drummond,  Henry,  313 

Duff,  Alexander,  77.  A  14&  343 

Duff,  Grant,  71,  72 

Du  Halde.  181 

Duncan,  "  Rabbi,"  330 

Ew^India  Coa^uqr  waA  UMout, 


Ebina,  168 

Education  and  Missions,  9l-«8;  of 
natives  in  foreign  lands.  167,  168 
Edward,  King,  to  Indian  people,  II7 
Edwardes,  Sir  Herbert,  iiti^  385 

Ellinwood,  F.  F..  63 
Empire  Review,  The,  193 
£/i>Aa«y,  The  158,  249 

Ethiopian  Movement,  The,"  147. 

149 

Evangelization  of  the  World  in  diit 

Generation,  41,  76,  77 
Evarts,  Jeremiah,  34 
Evening  Post,  Tk*  Nm  York,  S3, 

256,  375 
ExttaHmitoria%,  ai3-ats 

Faber,  Ernst,  241.  m  a6|,  ajS 
Fairbairn,  390 

Federation  in  Miatioiii,  340 

Findlay.  347  ^ 
Fish,  191,  21S 
Forman,  187,  378-381 
Forsythe,  P.  T.,  340 
Fortnightly  Review,  The,  213 
Foaa,  Bishop,  of  Japan,  345 
ForterTjcKrw/iClCiSSi  191, 

Fnmc^^i^ytMe  of 

„b/,  179 

Fraser,  Donal*  368 
Fraich. 

Fyaon,  Bidiop,  333 

Gairdner,  W.  H.  T.,  328 
Germany,  Political  use  of  Mifftiom 

by,  179 
Ghose,  Dr.,  126,  392 
Gibson,  70,  73-75,  220-225.  319 
Glasgow  Peace  Congress,  197.  198 
Good,  Adolphus,  32 
Gordon,  A.  J.,  133 
Gordon.  "Chinese/'  37.  85,  374 
Gordon,  George  A.,  302,  316 
Gore,  Bishop,  123 
Goreh,  Nehemiah,  164,  253 
Grant,  Principal,  302 
Granville,  Earl,  207 
"Great  Japan  BuddUtta'  IMm^ 

The,"  252 
Grenfell.  Dr.,  aSa 
Guizot,  M 

H&il,  Charles  Cnthbert,  354.  395 
Hamlin,  A.  D.  G, 


INDEX 


397 


too,  301 
Harper's  Weekly,  219 
Harris,  Townsend,  233 
Henderson.  354 
Hewett,  Sir  John,  25 
Hibbert  Journal,  The,  31S 
Hill.  David,  82-85.  87{  100 
Hindu  Association.  The,  240 
Hinduism,  246,  247.  240.  253.  2&0, 

261,  264-266,  270,  276,  ^  aBa,  J86, 

Hongfaton,  Lord,  ~- 
Hoittton.  M.  H..  208^  210 
Hnme.  R.  A..  243.  268 
Hmter.  Sir  WUUaiD,  S3.  <S5 

Imad-ud-diii.  ag8 
Independent.  Tke.  ^M 
India,  aanitation  in,  25;  education 

Ii^J^Smdmrd.The,ufi 
Indian  Witntu,  The.  t^fi,  H4. 

Inglis,  23.  95  - 
Ito,  Marquis,  37,  38 
Iwakun  Embusy,  Sfi 

Tames,  W.      I4»  ,  _     ,  ... 

Japan,  character  of  CImrch,  161; 
Christian  philanthropy  in.  i&i: 
needs  of ,  aft,  43 ;  reUtimis  of  nns- 
sioiM  nd  native  churches  in.  14^ 
15a;  rdigious  toleration  in,  jfi, 
aJ7,  aaS,  251 ;  trade  of.  4a 

Japan  Moil,  The.  250,  aBi 

Japan  Times,  The,  151 

Jewson,  A.,  140.  141 

Johnston,  Sir  H.  H..  36 

Jones.  A.  G.,  61,  62.  80 

Jones.  Griffith,  313 

Jotimibandh,  271 

Jowett,  295  .  ^ 

Judaism  and  Christian.  y./»S.  296 
Judson,  Adcmiram,  18^  80^  87. 178 
Jwala  DaH.  391 

Kayastha  Samachar,  tg^ 
Kellogg,  268.  30s 
Kelly,  67,  93,  "9.  120,  TO2 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  364,  ags 
Kirisutokyo  SeHi,  151 
KoeUe,  aao 


ia,  134: 
tie  hopct  destroyed,  117 
Krishna,  278 

Kyaiawai  Ji/t,  a8s 

Lahore,  Bishop  of.  27,  117.  ^ 

290,  359.  385,  .  ^ 
Lala  Chunder  Lai,  380 
Lambeth  Conference,  336 
Laplace,  397 

Lawes.  348         ^        ^  ^ 
Lawrence,  Edward,  154,  joo,  JOB 
Lawrence,  John,  233 
Le  Qucsne,  W.  R.,  138 
Lindsay.  45 

Literary  Digest,  The,  2» 
Livingstone,  52,  189.  jftf 
Lloyd,  267,  274,  311  „ 
London,  Bishop  of,  328 
Low,  Frederick,  Jr.,  215 
Lowrie,  Walter,  34.  35 
Lucas,  Bernard,  105-107,  158,  iSft 
162 

Lucknow,  Bishop  of,  33a 
Loll,  Rayowod,  3a 

Mahabharata,  rfS 
Mabie,  Henry  C,  279 
Macartney,  181,  W 
Macaulay,  98,  116,  266 
Madcenzie,  John,  iflB 
Madear.  69 
Madeod,  Norman,  331 

Macnicol,  273.  Ji5 

Madras,  Bishop  o  ,  rj^,  1S9 

Madras  Mail,  Th^.  286 

Maitland.  Sir  Peregrine.  381 

Malcdm,  Napier,  61.  30S 

Manu.  Code  of,  aSa 

Martin,  W.  A.  Pn  Wfc 

Mattoon,  192 

Maxim,  Sir  Hiram,  ai9 

Mayajima.  187 

Mazumdar,  255,  3I7»  3» 

McKinley,  382 

Mencius,  263 

Meyer,  F.  B.,  130 

Miller,  Dr.,  of  Madras,  64, 94 

Milman,  Hugh,  36        ^      _^  o 

Milner,  Lord,  on  James  Steiwt^ 

Mohammedanism,  260,  261,  aoa, 
270.  275.  278,  279.  280,  a8* 
287,  290,  292,  298,  30s.  310 
Momrosen,  232 

Monier- Williams,  267,  a93.  30B 


398 


INDLX 


Montgomery,  Bishop,  21,  319 
Mookerjee,  P.  M.,  140,  141 
Moore,  E.  C,  66,  67,  69,  334 
Moravians,  168 
Morrison,  Robert,  65,  216 
Morrison,  Theodore,  116 
Miihlocker,  258 
Muller,  Max,  283,  315 
Muttuhito,  251 
Mylne.  106^  159^  16a,  36$ 

Natddng,  Synod  of  Central  China  at. 

Napoleon.  113,  am 

Nationalism,  and  Miwions,  113  ff., 

361-394;  growth  of,  IIS.  116,  117 
'  Need  enough  at  home,"  47,  48 
Nevius,  John  L.,  290 
Newcastle,  Bishop  of,  335 
Newton,  187 
Nicene  Council,  40 
Nida-Ye-Vatan,  180 
Nineteenth  Century,  Tht,  365 
Norman,  Henry,  42 
North  China  Herald,  The,  yj-j 
Nottingham,  Church  Conference  at, 

335 

Nyasaland,  39,  193 

Okuma,  43,  281 
Omar  Khayyam,  283 
"  Oriental  Consciousness,  The,"  314. 
31S 

Parker,  190 

Parliament  of  Religions,  The,  257, 

284,  286,  295 
Paton,  John  G.,  189 
Patrizi,  Cardinal,  ^ 
Paul,  missionary  method  of.  78,  87, 

91,  loi,  210 ;  view  of  heathenism, 

296,  297;  statesmanship  of,  392, 

393 

Paul,  R.  I.,  ia6 
^rry,  Commodore,  191 
Phuanthrooy  and  Missions,  98-101 
PMM««r,  Tkt,  ;5S 

Political  ria^ta  of  miasionaries,  195- 
212 

Polygamy,  156,  157 
Pottinger,  igo 

'•^er  and  Miadona,  40^  344,  345, 

Presbyterian  Churdi  in  Om  U.  S.  A» 
«).  7ft  9S.  laa,  X43 


Protection  of  native  conmli.  ns- 
231  ^ 
Pundit  Prem  Nath,  3S1 
PnntdiataBi       Tdnqb  246 

Ram  Mohun  Rojr,  264 
Ramabai,  367 

Ramsay,  Sir  WOliani  \L,  39a 

Ranke,  232 
Reed,  217,  375 

Reference  and  Council,  Committee 
„  on,  346, 347 

Reinsch,  113-11S.  180,  332,  331,  333^ 

303 

Rhys-Davids,  267 
Rice,  Dr.,  and  his  Overture,  23 
Richard,  Timothy,  103-105,  290 
Richter,  128 
Robinson,  Alfred,  207 
Roman  Catholic  Church  Missions, 
66.  ^93.  H9-I2I ;  and  unity,  355, 

"  Konins,  The  Fortz-seven,"  278 
Roosevelt,  Ex-President.  Jft  49^  aa6 
Ross,  John,  144,  i8i,  311 
Ruskin,  275 

Saint  James  Gatette,  Th$,  im 

Salisbury,  Lord,  159 

Salvation  Army,  %j 

Sandwich  Island^  184, 

Sargent,  148 

Sawayama,  166 

Schopenhauer,  245 

Science  of  religion,  258,  2^9 

Scotland,  Free  Church  Deputation 

to  India,  97 
Scotland,  United  Free  Church,  Mia- 

sions  in  Africa,  193 
Scotsman.  The.  256 
Scott,  258,  3gi^g8 
Seeley,  67 

Sekeletu,  Chief  of  Mokololo,  52 
Self-extension  in  native  churches, 

acif -government  in  native  churches. 
142  ff. 

Self-support  in  native  churches.  135- 
142 

Seward,  Consul-General,  iga 
Seward,  Secretary  of  SMa;  at 
Shaira  Soyen,  386 
Shanghai  Mercury,  The,  igf 
Sherman,  John,  196,  199 
Siiiiiliiiiiii  «ta 


INDEX 


399 


Siam,  first  diplomatic  relations  with, 
192 

Slater,  99,  183.  254.  261,  288,  304. 

30s,  31S.  389  .  ^ 
Smith,  Bosworth,  24S.  269,  275 
Smyth,  39,  268  . 
Society  for  the  PropagatMm  of  nc 

Gospel,  The,  199  ^. 
Sons  and  Daughters  of  India,  373 
South  America,  44>  Sfio,  361 
Spectator,  Tht,  ma,  3tv 
Standard  of  membership  in  native 

churches,  154-160 
Staunton,  Sir  George,  181 
Stead,  W.  T.,  189 
Stewart,  James,  82,  87,  148 
Stokes  and  the  ascetic  ideal,  86 
Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  228,  229 
Sukumar,  Haldar,  245 
Sun,  The  New  York,  4S.  183.  204 
Sunday  School  Timts,  Tht,  173, 340 
Swadeshi,  126 
Swift,  354 
Sybel,  232 

Taft,  President,  38.  209.  376 
Tatping  Rebellion,  7$,  I73>  »6 
Taoism,  263 

Taylor,  Canon,  8s,  87,  290 
Taylor,  Hudson,  64 
Territorial  division  of  field,  342-344 
Thompson,  Joseph,  39.  I93 
Thompson,  Sir  Aocustnt  Riven, 
381 

Townsend,  Meredith,  43^  68;  7I>  87> 

129,  266,  375 
Travancore,  183 
Trench,  263 
Troeltich,  358 

Truth,  attitude  of  religions  toward, 
378 

Tuan  Fang,  183,  224 
Tubbs,  Norman  H.,  310 
Tucker,  Bishop,  135,  136 
Turicey,  religKMU  Ub^  in,  aaB- 
391 


Ucbimura,  38,  30,  364 
Uganda,  Mianpna  in,  I3<^  US 
secured  to  Graft  Brrtatn  lue* 

MOM,  M9 

Umiud  Mia  m4  Nalwt  StaM, 

Upairfwub,  345>  2isS 
Uyentnra,  147 

Vambery,  Arminiitt,  51,  <S!^,  61^  7<» 

232,  251,  392 
Van  Valkenburgh,  328 
Vedanta,  250,  256,  373.  309>  315 
Venn,  Henry,  127 
Verbeck,  215,  2fi 
Virchand  F.  oandhi,  252 
Vivakananda.  343.  257>  258,  266 
Von  HoUt,  333 

Wade,  207 

Walsh,  ^ 

Wameck,  128,  133 

Warren,  Sir  Charles,  381 

Washington,  367 

Washington  Post,  The,  213,  314 

Watson,  71 

Weightman,  Richard,  213 

Wells,  148,  367 

Westcott,  Bishop,  288 

Whipple,  Bishop,  171,  173 

Whitehead,  Bishop,  38a 

Wilder,  Consul-Gen«ral  at  Hmig 

Kong,  39 
Williams,  S.  Wdia,  IQI.  316-SlA 


390.  391 
WMaina, 


 ,  Talcott,  41 

Win^etter,  Bishop  of,  323 
Woman,  attitude  of  relii^ons  to- 
ward, 379b  sBOk  JBB 
Wong,  3K1 
Wood,  19a 
Woolsey,  3II 

Yen,  183 

Yonm.  ^  W.  Ifadnrortii.  M 


